Although they didn’t get as far as they wanted, both The Bishop’s School and La Jolla High girls volleyball teams made a nice run into the CIF playoffs earlier this month.
For Bishop’s and head coach Tod Mattox, the Lady Knights fell in a tight match in the semifinals to Santa Fe Christian by scores of 20-25, 25-21, 23-25, 24-26.
“It was an exciting match that was highlighted by our comeback in game four,” Mattox noted. “Down 12-19 and with elimination imminent, we fought back to go up 24-23. Unfortunately, we couldn’t wrap it up and force a game five.”
Bishop’s was led by senior attackers Nicole Ballon-Landa (11 kills) and Katherine Fiedler (eight kills).
Libero Laurel Casey was outstanding in serve receive and also recorded 15 digs. Ina Kamenova was solid with 10 kills and 13 digs.
Bishop’s season ends with a third place finish in CIF and a 30-4 overall record.
“Though this was a disappointing loss, it took an outstanding match by SFC to beat us,” Mattox continued. “I’m proud of the team for the fight they displayed in game four and for their great body of work during the entire season.”
La Jolla High under head coach Dave Jones also made it into the CIF semifinals, falling in four games to San Dieguito Academy.
“It was a highly competitive match due in large part to the tremendous back-row defense played by seniors Cameron Smith and Dana Hoolko, and sophomores Amanda Gordon and Caitlan Parmer,” Jones said.
La Jolla’s kill leader for the match was opposite Allyn Meyer.
Despite the loss, the Lady Vikings finished with a respectable 20-13 record for the season.