Laguna Blanca blockers Cuyler Zimmerman, left, and Andrew Vignolo, right, get in the way of Ontario Christian’s Derek Van Leeuwen
Down 14-11 in the fifth set, Laguna Blanca’s boys volleyball season looked over.
But the Owls came back from the brink to capture Saturday’s CIF quarterfinal clash with Ontario Christian 19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 17-15 in Merovick Gym.
Colton Johnson hammered the kill on the final point. As the ball knocked off the Ontario Christian block and out of bounds, Laguna Blanca’s student section rushed the court and celebrated with the team.
“These guys stayed together, ” said Owls head coach Dillan Bennett. “We were down 14-11 and I thought the match was over. These guys served the ball in, they played great defense like they have all year, and they kept making smart swings where as Ontario Christian was going for the big kill every time and ended up making some errors.”
The stunning result advances Laguna Blanca into the CIF semifinals on Wednesday for the first time in school history.
Ontario Christian saw its opportunity slip through their hands.
“I definitely feel like we should have had this one,” said Knights head coach David Slager. “And that’s no disrespect to the other team, they’re a great team, but when you have the lead you have, you need to put it away and we didn’t.”
The Knights, who went 19-5 this season, have nine seniors on their roster.
“That’s going to hurt for awhile. This was the team that wanted to do some things,” Slager said. “We had a great year. Co-league champs, made the quarters, but they wanted more and we had a chance.”
Ontario Christian’s Derek Van Leeuwen led all players with 20 kills. Setter Justin Tazelaar collected 42 assists and Kyle Hough led the team with 19 digs.
On Laguna’s side, libero Ryan Bickett kept the Owls in the match with his defense. Bickett saved a match point by giving up his body, diving onto the floor and sliding into the first row of the bleachers to keep the point alive.
“Ryan Bickett’s passing was off the charts. His defense was everywhere,” Bennett said. “Without his defense and ball control, we don’t get to run our sophisticated offense.”
Andrew Vignolo was a big presence at the net for the Owls while Kiyan Mashhoon was at the service line for Laguna’s longest runs, including the clutch comeback in the fifth. On one point in the third set, Mashhoon served a ball, dug the kill attempt by Ontario, and finished off the point with a kill.
Johnson came through with the kill on match point.
“As I was doing my approach I was thinking, alright, just swing hard with a high hand – try to reach – so I reached and hit it,” Johnson recalled.
Ontario Christian hadn’t experienced a five-set match yet this season while Laguna Blanca had played one, a victory.
