After playing 10 emotionally charged sets in wins over cross-town rivals the past two nights, Sierra could use a little bit of a break before the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs start next week.
East Union, with its postseason fate still unknown, will get right back to work in practice to stay sharp, just in case.
The two tangled in a Valley Oak League finale Wednesday at East Union’s Dalben Center, and the visiting
Sierra (9-3 VOL, 19-12 overall) had already assured itself of a playoff spot by wrapping up third place, thanks to its thrilling five-game win over Manteca, which fumbled its opportunity to capture at least a share of a fourth league title.
Brackets will be released by the SJS on Friday, and the playoffs begin next Tuesday. Coach Danielle Deerinck’s Timberwolves are going in confident and battle tested going 3-1 in their last four matches, all of which went to fifth sets. Last week, they stunned Trans Valley League-leading Ripon Christian before coming up short at Ripon the following night.
“I see a completely different team this week (compared) to the start of last week,” Deerinck said. “We went Wednesday, Thursday (last week at Ripon Christian and Ripon), took Friday off, practiced Monday, then Tuesday (vs. Manteca), Wednesday (at East Union). That’s a lot, but I told them it’s going to have us in better shape for the playoffs.”
The senior tandem of Owen Altadonna (16 kills, 10 blocks, eight digs) and Landon West (14 kills, eight blocks, nine digs) led the otherwise youthful T’wolves. Sophomores Toan Do (46 assists, 12 digs), Manolo Asuncion (20 digs), Kevin Gracia (13 digs, 12 service points), Thinh Huynh (seven kills) and Julio Vargas (seven kills, four blocks) also keyed the win.
“We’re definitely so excited,” Altadonna said. “We cannot wait to get into the postseason. At the start of the year, we were definitely a different team. Now, it feels like we’re starting to mesh at the perfect time. We’re beating our rivals in these tough games, and when it comes down to crunch time, we’re winning.”
Sierra came through in clutch moments in the final two sets, which were back and forth throughout. Game 4 was tied at 20-20, and Sierra got three kills from Huynh and a block from Vargas.
“(Huynh) has been stepping up all year,” Altadonna said. “Thinh is going to be amazing, I have no doubt in my mind.”
Sierra’s senior tandem provided the spark in the fifth set. West had three straight blocks to start the game, Altadonna came through with five kills and a rally-ending block that pushed the Timberwolves ahead for good at 13-12.
As well as both teams played, both were plagued by missed serves. In fact, an East Union service error was what ended the match. Sierra finished with 17 errors from the service line, while the Lancers (6-6, 10-11) had 11.
“Big heart tonight,” EU coach Tevani Liotard said. “I told them they had nothing to hang their head about. I know the last serve went into the net, but there were a lot of other points we lost before that. But they played with big heart tonight, and that’s what makes me the most proud.”
Guadalupe Reyes led the East Union attack with 14 kills, Gabriel Estabillo added nine and Xavier Gaspar finished with eight along with six aces.
Setters Isaac Serrato and Marvin Menor racked up 17 and 10 assists, respectively. Keenan Yang netted 12 digs, and Gabriel Holguin had five blocks.
Gaspar, who transferred from Sierra two years ago, landed four straight aces during the riveting third set. The Lancers led by as much as eight, 12-4, but Sierra rallied late and staved off four straight set points to knot it at 24-24. Jacob Padilla tilted the set back in EU’s favor with a kill, and Gaspar punctuated it with a kill of his own.
Although East Union ends up outside of the top three in the VOL for an automatic playoff berth, the Lancers can still get in as an at-large qualifier by finishing in the top 15 of the MaxPreps SJS Division III rankings. They went into the week at No. 14.
“They went all out tonight,” Liotard said. “They really wanted it. The seniors had tears at the end, because they worked so hard, and it didn’t go their way. That’s OK. Hopefully we’ve done enough to get in (the playoffs). They’re finally believing in themselves, and it’s nice to be peaking like we are right now. So, I said, you know what? We’re practicing tomorrow.”
