Grizzly volleyball reaches semifinals

Sweep sets up Tuesday's Escalon match

GARDEN VALLEY — The sign of a good team is its ability to persevere and perform under pressure. The Golden Sierra High volleyball team did just that Thursday, fighting off five opening-game set points on its way to a 31-29, 25-20, 25-17 Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV quarterfinal win over visiting Summerville. The victory advances the Grizzlies to Tuesday's semifinal match at home against Escalon.

With the offense struggling early the Grizzly hitters played smart ball, using well-placed roll shots and tips to keep the opening set close. With six seniors starting, experience favored Summerville which came in with an impressive 26-2-1 record. The Griz countered with one senior, four juniors and two sophomores.

The opening set had five ties up to 11-11 when back-to-back Grizzly errors gave Summerville a 13-11 lead. Katie Christner’s back-row kill cut the lead to one but the Bears’ Rachel Dunlap answered with a kill out of the middle. The squads matched each other until consecutive service errors by the Grizzlies put Summerville up 20-17. When Golden Sierra was caught out of rotation on the ensuing serve, Griz coach Justin Cox called for time with the Grizzlies down 21-17.

Both teams benefited from errors until Christner put away a kill out of the back row and Jessica Condit followed with a second-touch dump to close within two at 23-21. Kaylee Schrader landed an ace forcing a Summerville timeout while holding a one-point lead. The tactic worked. Dunlap's kill put the Bears at set point but Summerville couldn't finish as the Grizzlies tied the game at 24 on back-to-back Bear errors.

A tip to the open floor gave Summerville its second set point but Christner countered with a kill off the block and a shot down the line for Golden Sierra's first set point at 26-25. Action stopped on another Bear timeout and Dunlap responded, finessing a tip to the floor for a 27-26 lead. Again, the Bears failed to convert as Haley Hoblitt’s serve sailed long before she quickly atoned by taking a Grizzly over-pass to the floor for the Bears’ fourth match point, 28-27.

Christner's back-row kill tied the game at 28 but Hoblitt tooled the block for a 29-28 Bear lead. Christner nailed another kill and when miscommunication by the Bears let the next ball drop to the court, Golden Sierra had its second set point at 30-29 and Christner put the game on ice, rolling an attack over the block that found the hardwood for the hard-fought opening set victory.

“I thought we started well, but our sets were off and our hitters had to be creative,” Cox said.

Summerville's hopes to turn things around in game two were short lived. Golden Sierra got right back up, winning a joust at the net on the opening serve and Christner followed with a kill down the line for a quick 2-0 lead. Dunlap answered with a tip to the back corner followed by a kill from the outside to tie it before Josie Price's attack rolled over the net for a 3-2 lead, the last advantage the visitors held in the match.

Sierra Cokinos landed one of her season-high seven kills to tie the score and two plays later, she tooled the block for a 5-4 Grizzly lead. Playing fearlessly, Cokinos also kept the Bears out of system with her jump serve. A Golden Sierra hitting error tied the game at 5-5 before the Grizzlies went on an 8-3 run fueled by a back-row kill by Christner and two out of the middle by Caitlin Hess. The Bears answered with their own 8-3 run and tied the game at 16-all on Hoblitt’s cross-court shot.

Another kill by Christner, a Hess-Condit block and a Bear passing error prompted Summerville to call for time with Golden Sierra up 19-16. Hoblitt's block out of the timeout and two Grizzly hitting errors allowed Summerville to pull even before Condit fed Christner for another kill and a 20-19 advantage. The teams traded sideouts and with Hoblitt on the service line, Condit found Hess for a thundering kill in the middle and a two-point lead. Two Summerville errors put Golden Sierra at game point and Cokinos put it in the books with a kill off the block for the win.

“We fought hard tonight. This was our best effort all season,” Schrader said.

Christner opened the third set with a kill and followed it up with a tip to the open front court for a 2-0 lead. Schrader’s ace coupled with two more kills by Christner pushed the lead to 6-1. Two plays later, a Cokinos-Christner block had Golden Sierra up 9-2. Summerville closed within three twice, but the girls from Garden Valley grew stronger as the match wore on. Cokinos rejected a shot and Tiffany Grey's attack crawled over the net for a 21-14 Grizzly lead. The Griz finished off the match with a 4-2 run.

“We really started clicking tonight,” Cokinos said. “It was one of the strongest matches we’ve played. Katie did really well, Brittany was amazing with her digs, and our serving was much better tonight.”

Golden Sierra was led by Christner (28 kills, 11 digs, one block, and an ace); Cokinos (seven kills, two aces, three blocks); Hess (five kills, three blocks, and an ace); Condit (42 assists, six digs); and Brittany Tillotson (21 digs).

"We had two goals coming into tonight’s match — we talked about getting good passes so that we could get our middles more involved. We also wanted to get our serves in. I thought we did well at both and our communication was really good tonight too,” Christner said.