LJ b VB: Still standing

By Ed Piper

You're not out, until you're out.

"I'm still standing, yeah-yeah-yeah."

Take your pick, the CIF Open Division volleyball playoffs are not for the faint-hearted. La Jolla's top-ranked boys team, ranked number one in the San Diego Section and eighth in the nation, swept Francis Parker in the first round May 8, then took a few blows to the body from an aroused Sage Creek team in the second round Thurs., May 10, finally finishing the visiting Bobcats in four games.

"Sage Creek is the Vikings' top contender in their bracket," commented an observer at the match, which saw an unusually large turnout in the LJHS Big Gym due to numerous Sage Creek parents who made the long drive down from their Carlsbad abodes.

Hitter Luke Lentin, powerful on the La Jolla attack, repeatedly pounded spikes at, against, and away from Bobcat defenders trying to parry the shots.

Sage Creek coach David Savage's Valley League champs, undefeated in their conference, overcame a setting weakness to pull out to a 17-12 lead in the first game. La Jolla, calm yet facing a motivated opposition probably playing some of their best volleyball of the season, rallied but still trailed 24-22 at match point.

Coach Dave Jones' team re-grouped, reeling off four straight points to win 26-22. It might have set another squad back, as the Bobcats and their fans fell silent at giving their best effort yet losing the game.

But the visitors came back for more in the second game, this time closing for a 25-19 win to even the match at 1-1.

But the Bobcats, 8-0 in league and 27-6 overall coming in, had given their best gasp and didn't have enough left to survive the next two games.

The thing is, in the playoff bracket, Sage Creek can come back Tuesday, May 15, to challenge the Vikings again. The Bobcats and Lancers face off in a comeback opportunity Sat., May 12. The winner remains alive to get a second chance against the La Jollans.

Senior setter Berkeley Miesfeld, all business, helped lead the Vikings, setting forward and back sets over distance to position his hitters. Junior middle hitter-blocker Nathaniel Gates, an all-CIF choice as a 10th-grader last year, helped control the middle with opportune blocks of the Bobcats' inspired spikers.

Lefty Gabe Vargas, like Gates towering at 6'7", was frustrated on several hits in the first two games by a tenacious Sage Creek effort at the net. But eventually, La Jolla's withering attack won out on superior talent, wearing their opponents down in the final pair of games to win 3-1.