When Castaic saw its Southern Section title hopes fall short in a semifinal loss to Lakewood in late October, the Coyotes knew their season was still alive in the California Interscholastic Federation Division 4 girls’ volleyball state playoffs.
And following a straight-set sweep, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20, over the San Pedro Pirates on Tuesday in the first round, the Coyotes made history and advanced to the SoCal regional quarterfinals of the Division 4 state playoffs.
“This is crazy. A lot of us didn’t think we would still be playing in November, let alone this late in November,” Castaic coach Taylor Schubert said. “The girls are excited and we’re making history for Castaic, which is great for the program.”
With the win on Tuesday, the Coyotes (20-14) secured their first-ever CIF state playoff win and made program history as the first Castaic girls’ volleyball team to win 20 games in a single season.
While it’s been a historic season for the Castaic girls’ volleyball team, the wait between the team’s last game in the Southern Section semifinals on Oct. 30 and Tuesday’s win was a long one that left Schubert and her Coyotes not sure how to prepare.
Despite the break between games, Schubert said her team remained focused in practice and committed to make history and open the state playoffs with the most energy possible.
“It’s hard to keep practicing when this is so far away. We didn’t know who we were playing until Sunday,” Schubert said. “They were upset losing to Lakewood, but I think they used that to go all in and try to win state. That was their mindset.”
And in the opening sets of Tuesday’s first-round win, the Coyotes looked determined.
With the home matchup, due to being No. 3 team in the SoCal regionals, the Coyotes didn’t waste their opportunity to play in front of their home fans against the No. 14 San Pedro Pirates (25-14) of the Los Angeles City Section.
In the first two sets, the Coyotes took the lead and quickly were up two sets to none with all the momentum on their side of the court.
In the third set, the Pirates showed fight and took the lead in a third set for the first time and led 16-14, which prompted a timeout from Schubert.
Following the stoppage, the Coyotes rallied for an 11-4 scoring run and ultimately secured the overall win with Amelia Conner recording the game-winning kill.
With the win, the Coyotes advanced to the Division 4 SoCal regional quarterfinals and will play host on Thursday as the higher seed against the visiting Fullerton Red Hawks.
The Red Hawks, who were ranked as the No. 11 team in the SoCal regional playoffs, pulled off an upset four-set win over No. 6 Eagle Rock on the road.
For Schubert, the preparation for the SoCal regional quarterfinal will be much shorter with the matchup on Thursday but has confidence in her team to remain focused and continue their historic run.
“We’re going to come back in the morning, watch a little film, practice light,” she said. “I’ll do a lot of service with them and then we’ll get ready to go.”
Thursday’s Division 4 SoCal regional quarterfinal between the Coyotes and Red Hawks is scheduled for first serve at 6 p.m. at Castaic High School.
