Cate played some serious defense on Thursday in its second-round girls volleyball playoff match against top-seeded Pacifica Christian of Santa Monica.
The Rams, however, couldn’t muster enough offense to stay with the visitors and dropped a 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 decision in a Division 4A match at Cate.
“We battled with them,” Cate coach Greg Novak said. “We were going neck and neck a lot of the time. We had a couple of runs of unforced errors and they capitalized on that.”
Cydney Pierce paced the Cate attack with 14 kills and Maddie Becker added three kills, but it was the Rams’ defense that kept them in the match.
“Overall, the entire team dug a lot of balls,” Novak said. “This was the first thing we saw that was very efficient. We planned for a team like that. We adjusted with every hitter and dug a lot of balls. Their coach said we’re the first team they played against that had a good defense.”
Setter Ellen Lempres made Pacifica Christian think twice about hitting down the line, as she picked up eight digs.
“They were pushing six fee on a few of the players,” Novak said about Pacifica Christian. “They were running a quick offense we weren’t used to seeing. They were quick on the ball and hitting the 12-foot line, but our defense frustrated them and they made a lot of hitting errors.”
Novak said the gym was loud and well-dressed. Cate was holding a formal night for its student body and several students came to the match dressed in suits and fancy dresses. Pacifica Christian also brought fans and cheerleaders.
“The kids were going back and forth. It was a really cool night,” he said.
Cate finishes the year at 9-5.
