The girls beach volleyball teams of San Marcos and Dos Pueblos finally got around to playing each other on Thursday, nearly a month after their original playing date.
Both teams came into the Channel League clash undefeated, and the crosstown rivals put on a close, high-level, exciting match.
Four of the five match-ups went the full three sets, and San Marcos took three of them to come away with a 3-2 team victory before a nice crowd at its on-campus Ridgway Courts.
“It was pretty spectacular to see beach volleyball with this energy out here, and the number of people in the crowd. It was pretty fantastic,” said San Marcos co-coach Tina Brown. “For our town to have that and to really have such high-caliber volleyball was fantastic on all levels.”
The result puts San Marcos in sole possession of first place at 10-0 in the league while Dos Pueblos is 7-1. The teams meet again Wednesday at DP.
The match that turned Thursday’s final result in San Marcos’ favor was at the No. 5 spot. The Royals’ duo of Kaylin Cooney and Evyn Miller battled back from a 14-11 deficit in the third set to take a stunning 16-14 win over Layla McQuiggan and Ella Benson. The full match scores were 21-12, 10-21, 16-14.
“Kaylin Cooney is a junior and Evyn is a freshman,” said Brown. “We just paired them up a week ago and suddenly we’re like, ‘They’re really good together.’ So, to see Evyn show up at the end of that game and get Kaylin fired up to win after being down 14-11 was exciting.”
Dos Pueblos coach Mike Fitzgerald said the San Marcos pair came up with the big plays in crunch time.
“We had a couple of opportunities, so we have to take advantage of those and we didn’t,” said Fitzgerald. “That other team made two or three plays that were spectacular just to hit the ball over (the net). I thought we had it won on a number of occasions, but you got to hand it to (the Royals). They played well and deserved it.”
San Marcos also came up big down the stretch at the No. 3 position, as Devyn Brunet/Katie Kracke rallied for a 10-21, 21-16, 15-13 victory over Makeila Cervantes/Maddy Jones.
Dos Pueblos posted the only sweep of the day, with Addison Low/Sonia Mancuso beating Mia Miller/Brooke Hoadley, 21-19, 21-7 at the fours.
Sophomore Josie Gamberdella and freshman Alina Stapf of San Marcos outlasted Malia Broffiero and Jayden Jones at the No. 2 spot in three sets, 21-16, 20-22, 15-8.
In the second set, Gamberdella/Stapf rallied from a 20-17 deficit and tied the scored at 20 on a shot by Stapf that hit the back line.
Dos Pueblos reclaimed the lead on a San Marcos serving error and scored the winning point on a putaway by Jones after a tough serve.
In the deciding set, Gamberdella/Stapf rallied from a 5-2 deficit. They caught the Broffiero/Jones at 8-8 and took the lead for good when Stapf dug a ball and scored on a pokey to the back court.
Stapf said they regrouped by “just taking a deep breath, putting it all together and just doing what we know best and play volleyball.”
She received the majority of serves and said she expected it.
“I knew they were going to come at me. I just needed to calm down and bring it all together,” she said.
“She is probably one of the scrappiest people out here,” said Brown of Stapf. “She’s so good and she’s so calm. She sets Josie so well. The two of them are just so consistent and solid.”
The No. 1s match brought together four players who were standouts on their indoor volleyball teams.
Stanford-bound Chloe Hoffman and USF signee Lucy Speier of DP pulled out a 22-20, 18-21,15-6 win against Royals Lily Blankenhorn and Riley Green.
Blankenhorn/Green went on a four-point run to tie the first set at 20. A service error gave the lead back to Hoffman/Speier, and Speier followed with the winning point. She dug a short shot, collected herself and hit a pokey for the two-point victory.
The second set was close all the way. At 16-all Blankenhorn slipped a shot past Hoffman’s block for a lead the Royals wouldn’t give up. At game point, Green blocked Hoffman and let out a roar.
“Coach Cassidy (Drury-Pullen) had them so ready for the match,” said Brown. “We knew (the match) was probably going to come down to our lower teams. Obviously, Chloe and Lucy, that’s a tough to beat. But I tell you, Riley and Lily are playing the best volleyball they’ve ever played.”
Dos Pueblos bounced back in the third set, roaring out to a 7-3 advantage. Green cut the deficit to 7-5 before Hoffman took over. She went on a three-point run with a shot on-two, a dig followed by a crushing kill and a tough serve that set up a point.
Speier finished the match with an on-two play.
“I think we just had the heart. We really wanted every point,” said Speier of the team’s play in the third set. “We were working together and had really good communication.”
She said going into the showdown match, they made sure to follow their traditional pre-match rituals.
“Me, Mike (Fitzgerald) and Chloe have some superstitions, and we made sure all those were going, like eating a Jersey Mike’s sandwich before having our little energy drink.
“We were making sure everything went right. We were really hyped about this match.”
Fitzgerald said Speier has really stepped up this season and is playing solid volleyball.
“She’s got a bull’s eye on her back; they’re not going to serve Chloe. She’s really stepped up and she’s a great kid who works hard. It’s good to see them have success.”