Castaic head coach Taylor Schubert has seen the highs and the lows of starting a girls’ volleyball program from scratch. But after a straight-set sweep, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21, over Calvary Chapel in the quarterfinals of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division 6 playoffs on Tuesday, she believes this is the best team yet.
“This means everything,” Schubert said afterward. “I truly loved coaching these girls, and I feel like they’ve been the most committed group that I’ve ever had. They’ve worked their butt off every day at practice … I think it’s paying off right now.”
With the win, not only did the Coyotes punch their ticket into the semifinals of the Division 6 playoffs for the first time, but Castaic also clinched a state berth into the CIF state playoffs – the first for the girls’ volleyball program.
For Schubert, the berth into the state playoffs has been rewarding as she’s seen the program since its inception and is glad this year’s team’s hard work is paying off.
“Those first few years were hard, but I knew eventually we could get here,” Schubert said. “And I’m happy that we’re doing it, and we’re doing it at some highest level that we can.”
In Tuesday’s win, the Coyotes played their best volleyball all season.
Following a first-set win that was highlighted by a Leyla Buela kill to clinch the match-setting point, the Calvary Chapel Eagles of Santa Ana showed fight in the second set.
The Eagles cut the Coyotes’ lead to four, 20-16, which prompted a timeout. But after the stoppage, the Coyotes won, 25-22.
But while momentum seemed to be with Castaic, the Eagles rallied in the third and took a 14-6 lead to open the set.
Schubert and the Coyotes weren’t worried as she relayed to her team that they have the two-set lead and with home-court advantage, they had all the keys to take control back of the game.
“It’s our game. We have to control us,” Schubert said of what she told her team in the third set. “We were hurting ourselves early on, and I told them, we didn’t have to get it all back in one chunk, but we got to get some runs going.”
The Coyotes listened to their head coach and rallied to win the third set for the sweep, 25-21, and won in come-from-behind fashion.
As the Coyotes look toward Saturday’s semifinals matchup, Schubert is looking to take the time between matchups to get her team prepared with a chance at the championship appearance on the line.
On Saturday, the Coyotes are scheduled to hit the road and take on the Lakewood Lancers, who swept their quarterfinals matchup on Tuesday.
“We’ll come in tomorrow, so we can practice a little bit. We’ll probably take a day off and then come back on Friday and get ready to go for Saturday,” she said.
Saturday’s semifinals matchup between the Coyotes and Lancers is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Lakewood High School.
