Bulldog spikers beat Westview
Ramona High School’s boys volleyball team lost a road match March 16 to top-ranked Poway High School in four games but followed that loss with a five-game win at home March 18 against Westview.
“We’ve still got a ways to go,” said Ramona coach Jeff Klauda. “But the guys are progressing every single day.”
After Poway won its first two games against Ramona by 25-20 and 25-17 scores, Titans coach Charlie Jackson substituted for his top players and Ramona won the third game by a 28-26 margin. The Bulldogs took a lead in the fourth game before Jackson re-inserted his starters, and the Titans sealed the match with a 25-20 victory.
“We need to learn to play a little more mentally tough,” Klauda said.
Ian Nowakowski led the Bulldogs with 12 kills while Billy White added 11 kills. Garrett Adelman led Ramona with 37 assists.
Ramona required wins in the final two games to take the match against Westview.
“The fact that we’re a young team really showed,” Klauda said.
Ramona began the match with a 25-16 victory.
“The first game we played pretty solid all around,” Klauda said.
The Bulldogs only missed three serves in the first game but missed five serves in the second game which finished in Westview’s favor by a 25-23 score. Westview’s 25-19 win in the third game included six Ramona missed serves.
After a long rally in the fourth game, Ramona’s Luis Nunez won the point. White then served for eight additional points, including two serving aces. Ramona only missed two serves in the 25-15 win.
The Bulldogs also missed only two serves in the fifth game, which was decided by 15-13 score. The Bulldogs had a 14-12 lead before the Wolverines obtained a sideout, after which Nowakowski hit a ball over a pair of Westview blockers which dropped onto the floor for the match-winning point.
“That was their first big test,” Klauda said. “They were pretty fired up.”
Nowakowski had 19 kills, White added 15 kills, and Nunez contributed 13 kills. Adelman led the team with 48 assists.
Brad Behnke led Ramona with 14 digs while White had ten digs, including five in the fifth game.
The win over Westview improved Ramona’s season record to 8-4.
“It was a pretty good week,” Klauda said.