Just call them The Underbirds.
Though the seedings didn't say so, most if not all in attendance at third-seeded El Camino's Sac-Joaquin Section Division III second round playoff volleyball match on Thursday night felt that the host Eagles were the decided underdog against sixth-seeded Del Oro.
"No one outside of this team thought we could win," El Camino coach Martin Soyama said. "No one."
And while it's true that Del Oro, a Sierra Foothill League powerhouse, had the height, the speed and the finesse, El Camino had the guile. And a little extra inspiration.
Before downing Del Oro 3-2 (11-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-20, 15-3) Soyama cut together an inspirational video featuring clips from classic underdog sports movies like Hoosiers, Miracle and Remember The Titans.
"That got us really pumped up," sophomore outside hitter Natalie Riddering said.
Following a first-set drubbing -- only fitting for an underdog -- the Eagles came out and served tough, keeping Del Oro's potent attack grounded.
"We knew serving would be important tonight," El Camino senior libero Lainey Gordon said. "It always is. It's the one part of the game you have complete control."
Del Oro jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second set before the Eagles went on an 8-2 run to take a 10-7 lead with senior outside hitter Alayna Robie leading the way with three kills. During that stretch El Camino's defense tightened, making it harder for Del Oro attackers to find the floor. Repeatedly Hannah Oros, Belle Obert and Emily Mattevi would swing for the back line only to have Gordon or another Eagles back-row player track it down.
"(Hitting deep back) is their biggest strength, so defending it had to become mine," Gordon said.
Meanwhile the Eagles' offense began to catch fire behind a brilliantly-set match from junior Bridget Herenda. Herenda, whose tough serve was instrumental in keeping Del Oro out of system, mixed up the Golden Eagles' block by setting an array of different balls, Robie on the shoot, Riddering out of the pipe and Megan Lunger on the slide.
"I wanted to get the middles going so they couldn't get comfortable camping out on Natalie and Alayna," said Herenda, who had 47 assists.
Riddering's star shone brightest in the fifth set when she served an ace and had five of her 27 kills, most of which came facing a triple block.
"I worked a lot in practice on ways to get around that," she said.
Elsewhere in D-III fifth-seeded Placer swept host No. 4 seed Pioneer 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-13).
Click to view the D-III bracket
Division I
Click to view the bracket
Top-seeded Oak Ridge continued to roll with a sweep 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-5) of eighth-seeded Edison behind 11 kills from junior outside hitter Katie Vaughn and nine from senior middle blocker Sarah Horning. Senior setter Brittney Larsen dished out 30 assists.
Seven-time defending champion Nevada Union went into Modesto and swept the third-seeded Panthers 3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 26-24) with a 16-kill performance from senior outside hitter Abbie Miraldi. Junior outside hitter Ellie Selleck chipped in 12 kills.
No. 12 seed Pleasant Grove swept Golden Valley-Merced 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-17) behind four aces apiece from Sara Konkel and Megan Pollock and 12 kills from Emily Seros.
Division II
Click to view the bracket
Top-seeded Rocklin swept ninth-seeded Buhach Colony-Atwater 3-0 (25-15, 25-7, 25-18) behind 12 kills and two aces from sophomore outside hitter Cailyn Prewitt and nine kills and five aces from sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Ivy. Junior middle blocker Olivia Lane had seven kills.
No. 2 seed St. Francis, playing without senior outside hitter Kasey Clark, who was out with flu, needed five sets to defeat seventh-seeded Roseville 3-2 (25-16, 25-20, 22-25, 22-25, 15-4).
"Roseville played very good defense and we got tentative," St. Francis coach Alynn Wright said. "That's the kind of match we needed; I'm pleased with their fire and desire to win."
Troubadours junior middle blocker Zoe Nightingale had 24 kills, nine digs and eight blocks while fellow junior middle Mary Clark had 16 kills, four blocks and two aces. Senior setter Lyana Perez had 47 assists.
Division IV
Click to view the bracket
Top-seeded Christian Brothers continued to roll with a sweep of Le Grand 3-0 (25-8, 25-13, 25-16) behind 11 kills, eight digs and seven aces from senior middle blocker Katie Hoekman. Whitney Swain led the Falcons with 22 digs while Kim Fazio had 12 digs off the bench to go along with three kills and three aces.
Division V
Click to view the bracket
Top-seeded Bradshaw Christian needed four sets to defeat Jim Elliot Christian 3-1 (25-10, 25-13, 18-25, 25-13). Patricia Orozco led all players with 22 kills while Brianna Yadon had 10 kills
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.