San Marcos girls volleyball rolled to an upset sweep of top-seeded Rancho Christian in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs on Thursday inside the Thunderhut.
The Royals overpowered the Eagles at the net from start to finish to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals, 25-15, 25-21, 25-20.
“I have a great coaching staff… We were all watching film, we all came up with a game plan and we practiced it yesterday. Thankfully, it worked for us,” San Marcos head coach Erica Downing said. “It’s so nice to have a great coaching staff come up with a plan, and then implement the plan, but then the plan is actually working, and that’s really the next level.
“We’re now playing at a level where we can do those kinds of things.”
The Royals will now hit the road for the first time this postseason to take on Long Beach Poly in the quarterfinals next Wednesday at 6 p.m.
San Marcos came out of the gates firing against the top seed in the bracket, racing out to an early 14-6 lead thanks to several Rancho Christian miscues throughout the set.
The Royals never looked back after their fast start, using strong serving down the stretch and timely defensive plays to cruise to the 25-15 win.
Downing credited the depth of her team for helping the starting rotation rise to the occasion in these big playoff matchups.
“Against each other, we have such a high level of practice. It’s only making our team so much better,” Downing said. “I don’t get a chance to play everybody in these kinds of games, but they are a huge part of why we’re so successful.”
The Eagles came out of the break and found a bit of their groove, building up a 15-10 lead in the second set.
However, the Royals responded with a 5-0 run fueled by a pair of aces from Jeanie Johnson and a big block at the net by Samantha Fallon and Lila Westmacott to tie the set up at 15-15.
Rancho Christian came up with the next point, but San Marcos then ripped off another run that included a pair of kills by Reese Paskin to pull away for a 21-17 advantage.
From there, the Royals fought off an Eagle comeback attempt and Cora Loomer hammered down a kill to seal the set for a 25-21 win.
San Marcos leaned on its four-headed attack of Fallon, Paskin, Loomer and Charlotte Hastings throughout the matchup once again. Loomer and Paskin led the team with eight kills apiece, while Fallon and Hastings each ended with seven kills.
Westmacott ran the offense efficiently as well, collecting 28 assists while evenly distributing the ball to keep the Rancho Christian defense off balance.
“Lila can really set anybody… She has a tough job trying to keep everybody happy. It’s not easy,” Downing said. “It took her a while to get, but she’s now understanding what we’re asking her to do, and then also connecting with the girls.
“She’s connecting so well with Sam in the middle right now. Reese has come in as another left side and she’s so dominant… Cora and Charlotte are pretty dominant out there. The reality is, she’s got two, three, four hitters sometimes coming out of the back row. It allows us to speed up our offense, and we’re not forcing certain sets to somebody.”
The Royals smelled blood in the water in the third set and capitalized, dominating early in the set to take an 11-4 lead and slowly build that up to a 21-11 advantage.
San Marcos’ defense was on point throughout the night, coming up with several big blocks at the net and many clutch digs, including 11 from Alina Stapf.
“Alina played really well tonight, picking up a lot of garbage on the off speeds and the tips,” Downing said. “She passed like the entire court and was a great passer for us tonight, and so that helps our offense.”
The Eagles didn’t go away quietly, battling back to cut the Royals’ lead to 24-20. However, a Rancho Christian service error brought the set to a close to give San Marcos the match sweep.