There was some controversy with referees and the opposing coach the first time Cate’s boys volleyball team played Fillmore — a 5-set loss down at the Flashes’ gym two weeks ago.
It didn’t stop when Fillmore paid a visit to the Carpinteria mesa Wednesday, but the Rams prevailed with a 25-18, 27-25, 25-11 sweep behind 16 kills, five aces and nine digs from standout junior Joe Gottwald.
One of the Cate players was wearing shorts that had a small orange stripe on them, which is technically a violation of the uniform code. The Fillmore coach raised a fuss about it during the second game, and it resulted in the Rams losing a point before winning the set 27-25.
Between the second and third sets, Fillmore’s coach argued that Cate should be penalized another point in the third set due to the infraction.
“The refs went and checked the rules and found out that no points should have been lost, and that it should only be a delay of game penalty and the loss of a timeout,” said Cate coach Dan Terry. “So we got really fired up and just crushed them in that third game.”
Libero Rey Canseco shoveled up 17 digs in the match, while Ian Dron-Smith and Tayler Casey had three aces each.
The Rams (7-3, 6-1 Condor League) host rival Laguna Blanca on Saturday.
