One way or another, it was going to be a statement game for the Wilson Bruins, one of the steadiest teams in local prep volleyball. In their last match, on Thursday, they had some ups and downs, an unusual sight in the Wilson gym. In their third-round match at home Saturday against the Newport Harbor Sailors, however, the Bruins regained their form, winning 26-24, 25-23, and 25-12.
The match wasn’t as one-sided as a straight sets victory might imply. “Oh my God they’re talented,” said Wilson coach Susan Pescar after the match. “They were tremendous.”
Of course, her team didn’t look half-bad either, led by Deveney Pula, who pounded the Sailors with 16 kills, as well as the versatile Kellie Culbertson, who had 14 kills and 12 digs. “Our setters were on fire,” said Pula after the match. “They were setting faster, and right on the net where I like it.”
“Faster” is a good word to describe the difference for the Bruins Saturday night—the Sailors were a complete team who didn’t have many weaknesses. Wilson just did everything slightly faster, found minor seams in the Newport block, and executed a tad better; in other words, they played the “Fast and Fundamental” style that Pescar says she drills them on in practice. In the first set, they went up 8-4, but never pulled away, as both teams jockeyed for position until the Sailors, after a 19-19 tie, went on a run to take a 23-21 lead.
Pescar called a timeout—in every match we’ve covered this season, that’s usually a good sign her team is about to step their game up. She said, “I just told them, ‘I’ve seen you do this before Show ’em.'” A miscommunication on the Bruin backline led to a Sailor ace on the next point, putting Newport up 24-21, but Wilson didn’t lose their composure, and ripped off an incredibly impressive 5-0 run to take the set.
In the second, the Bruins jumped out to a 9-4 lead, and never trailed, fending off the feisty Sailors as they closed towards the end. Culbertson and Pula were instrumental in keeping the Bruins out in front—any time Newport built momentum, one of them would crush a ball and put a maroon jersey back on that momentum.
The third set was a great example of the Bill Walsh philosophy of how boxing terminology can be used to coach every sport. His idea was to “always beat your man to the punch.” If you could do that, he said, if you could beat him to the punch by a quarter inch at the beginning of a bout, nobody would notice—but by the end, it wouldn’t even be fair. Wilson out-executed and out-hustled Newport for the first two sets, and in doing so took the wind out of them for the third, securing the 25-12 victory. Even with the large margin, Pescar never used major substitutions, however, citing her enormous amount of respect for Newport’s talent and their coach (and perhaps also remembering last year’s second-round CIF match, which had Newport eliminating Wilson).
As Newport prepared to leave the gym, to chants of “Start the yacht!” from Wilson’s student section (the self-dubbed Athos), Pescar and her team prepared to face their next opponent, the winner of Santa Margarita vs. Lakewood. “I don’t want to play either of them,” she said, “so I guess I’ll just wait to see who wins and then start preparing.”
Well, coach, it’s Santa Margarita—Wilson will face them this Tuesday at 7pm. Looks like the match will be played at Santa Margarita.
Lakewood
Lakewood was hoping to be in that match on Tuesday, battling their Moore League compatriots for the right to play in the CIF Finals. Unfortunately, Santa Margarita had other plans, as they defeated the Lancers 25-22, 25-16, 18-25, 26-24.
The defending champs looked like they might make a run towards a comeback after falling down two sets to none, as they won the third, and had match point 24-23 in the fourth, before Santa Margarita pulled off a 3-0 run to seal the match.
The loss ends Lakewood’s season, and leaves Wilson the only member of the Moore League Triumvirate still standing in the CIF semifinal round. If you’re a Lancers fan, though, it’s hard to be too pessimistic, since they’re returning as many key sophomores and juniors as Poly is—both teams will be fully loaded and ready to start the season next fall.
