Volleyball wins first two playoff matches
What happened last night at the CIF Division II volleyball playoff semifinal between Ramona High School and Westview High School occurred too late to appear in this issue, but, if the Bulldogs defeated the Wolverines, they earned another berth in the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) finals and in the state tournament.
The Bulldogs earned a trip to the semifinals by winning their first two playoff matches. Ramona, which earned the #2 seed in the playoffs and thus home-court advantage throughout the semifinals, defeated Helix in three games Nov. 12 while conquering Valhalla in a four-game match Nov. 14.
“The way we’re playing right now, we are definitely the best team in Division II,” said Ramona Coach Connie Halfaker. “If we continue to play as we can, we have our banner.”
Halfaker called up three junior varsity players for the playoffs, and the entire 15-girl roster participated in the 25-11, 25-14, 25-18 win over Helix.
“They got a chance to see some action, so that was nice to have the whole program get an opportunity,” Halfaker said.
“Our girls continue to be balanced,” Halfaker said. “Bailey’s able to mix it up and keep our opponents confounded.” (Bailey Kotas is Ramona’s setter.)
“When the girls are hitting, they’re able to place the ball well,” Halfaker said. “That keeps the defense guessing, so we’re getting them responding late.”
The playoff opener was Ramona’s first match since a Nov. 5 win at Oceanside.
“We were really able to address some things uninterrupted,” Halfaker said of the practices in between those matches.
Ramona took 25-11 and 25-13 wins in the first two games against Valhalla before the Norsemen won the third game by a 26-24 score.
“We had a little bit of a breakdown in game three,” Halfaker said. “Let them get back in it, and then they got all fired up.”
Ramona led the third game 17-11 before allowing the Norsemen to come back gradually and eventually tie the score at 23 points apiece.
The fourth game was tied at four points apiece.
“Then we just took it to them,” Halfaker said. “About five points into game four it was no looking back.”
Ramona translated that run of points into a 25-16 victory to seal the match and improve its overall regular-season record to 22-9.
That mark does not count seven matches in the Palm Desert Tournament, which did not consist of regulation-length matches. Ramona won five matches, lost one and split one during the tournament.
Ramona’s 8-4 record in Valley League competition placed the Bulldogs third in the conference standings. Valley Center won the league title with a 12-0 Valley League mark while Westview had a 9-3 record. Ramona and Westview split their two league matches, both of which went to four games, with the Wolverines winning the Oct. 8 contest and the Bulldogs winning the more recent match Nov. 3.