Following a first-round win in the California Interscholastic Federation state playoffs, the West Ranch Wildcats were defeated at home, ending their season in the state playoffs.
The Wildcats were reverse swept by the Bishop Montgomery Knights 25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 18-25, 9-15, and eliminated from the Division 1 CIF state playoffs.
“At the end of the day, you want to walk away with a championship and that’s what we set our sights towards all year long,” West Ranch head coach Jamey Ker said. “But at the same time, the thing that I set my sights towards more than anything else is, do I feel like this season was a net positive? And I feel that.”
The Wildcats secured many achievements toward becoming a CIF Southern Section finalist as the team defeated JSerra Catholic and Orange Lutheran, en route to the championship game against Santa Margarita.
Not only does the program finish the 2025 season as Foothill League champions but also secured a first-round win in the state playoffs over Redlands.
“This team put West Ranch on the map,” he said. “We’re recognized nationally, we’re certainly recognized in our state. People know who we are. People are nervous about playing us next year … the memory of this season is going to continue to live on because of the standard that we’ve set.
In the second round of the state playoffs, the Wildcats were sure to play up to that standard they set for themselves all season long.
In the first set, the Wildcats and the Knights were tied 15 apiece after a 12-7 scoring run from Bishop Montgomery’s offense to eliminate an 8-3 West Ranch lead.
As the set continued, neither team was able to pull ahead as the opening set held 11 lead changes
The Wildcats took the up-and-down first-set win with Gioia Nicolas-Piccolino landing a timely kill.
In the following set, the Wildcats again found themselves playing catchup. After trailing the Knights 8-3, the Wildcats clawed their way back but not without some hustle from Joeleen Reynolds, who after hitting the floor to dig out a ball, immediately got back up to block a Knights hit for a point.
As the second set continued, the Wildcats took the lead right back following an error from Bishop Montgomery and played cleanly to leave the Knights behind and take a 20-17 lead following a Reynolds kill, which prompted the Knights to take a timeout.
Following a rally from the Knights to cut the West Ranch lead to two, the Wildcats took the second-set win with a service error from the Bishop Montgomery.
Just like the first two sets began, Devyn Kobe kicked off the scoring, landing a point for her team. But the lead was short lived as the Knights took the lead in the early sequences of the third.
The Knights took the third-set victory and rallied that momentum into the fourth set as the Wildcats were in a 5-0 hole.
It was a hole the Wildcats did not dig themselves out of as the Knights won the fourth and forced a fifth set.
With a place in the regional semifinals up for grabs, the Knights took a decisive fifth set win and ended the Wildcats’ season.
With the loss, the Wildcats ended the season with a 26-7 record, and although Ker didn’t want to end the season with a loss, he feels confident about where the program is headed thanks to the success they had and stated he still has unfinished business at West Ranch.
“I told the girls, it’s like, everybody asks me every year, when are you going to step away from West Ranch? Are you going to go do something else?” he said. “And nope, I’m not going anywhere. Especially after a season like this in this tone that it sets. I’m motivated as heck to continue building upon what we started this year.”
