Articles by Derryl Trujillo,Gqlshare

Technology

Santiago girls volleyball team falls to Dana Hills in Division 4 quarterfinal

CORONA — The Santiago girls volleyball team was playing from behind in Wednesday’s CIF Southern Section playoff match. Although the Sharks kept themselves close, Dana Hills produced a late run each time and pulled away for a 25-22, 25-17, 25-15 win in the Division 4 quarterfinal match and also secure the program’s first state playoff berth. Dana Hills (14-12) travels to La Canada (21-18) for a semifinal match, tentatively scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. “That’s a really solid Dana Hills team, and it was gonna take our best match to get them,” Santiago coach Courtney Krueger said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t play to that level but this year was a step in the right direction for us since we’ve been in the first round and done these last couple of years. “We’ll have a hungry and motivated group next year that is ready to keep making strides and keep pushing this program forward.” The first set was the closest of the three, with six ties and eight lead changes. Dana Hills had an 11-9 near at the halfway point, but Santiago went on a 4-1 run to take a 13-12 lead behind aces from Kaedyn Blotzer and Celah McKee and kills from Emerson Newton and Gabriella Norman. Tied at 17, the Dolphins then closed with a 8-5 run to take the set. Ally Fausett had the set-ending kill, while Chelsea Day added a kill and was part of a combination block down the stretch. “We were in a lot of must-win situations coming down the stretch and I couldn’t be prouder of how the girls persevered through that to get to this point,” Dolphins coach Tom Hoff said. “It’s definitely tough to be down players at this time of the year, but I give Santiago a ton of credit for the way they fought tonight. That was a much closer match than the scores made it out to be, but I’m so happy for our program to keep moving forward and setting new milestones along the way.” Dana Hills took a 14-10 lead in the second set, courtesy of a 5-1 run that included a pair of kills from Sawyer Rupe, an ace from Fausett, a combination block from Julia Miller and Haley Bentley and a kill from Miller. Santiago (15-16) fought back and cut the deficit to 16-15 after a Sarah Guzzetti kill, but three straight service aces from Fausett pushed the Dolphins to a 20-15 lead and eventual second set win. Dana Hills opened the third set with a 6-1 run capped by a Fausett kill. Santiago rallied and cut the deficit to two on Madeline Siqueland’s kill. Day had two kills and a block assist as part of a 4-1 run that gave Dana Hills a 13-8 lead en route to one last win and the sweep. “I was pretty nervous coming into this one because we had been at home for the first couple of rounds but we played really well tonight,” Day said. “It took us a while to put things together this year and it means so much to me as a senior to keep going in these playoffs because of the road we went on.” Newton had eight kills and an ace to lead Santiago in the loss. Day had eight kills, two total blocks, and an ace for Dana Hills while Fausett added another eight kills and three aces.