Bulldog spikers win playoff opener, fall in quarterfinals

By Joe Naiman

Ramona High School’s girls volleyball team won its CIF Division II playoff opener Nov. 6 at home against University City before being eliminated in the Nov. 10 quarterfinal at West Hills.

“West Hills was just firing on all their cylinders,” said coach Connie Halfaker. “They were just too good of a team.”

Ramona earned the sixth seed in the CIF Division II playoffs, which gave the Bulldogs a home match against 11th-seeded University City. Halfaker’s players began that match with a 25-17 win.

“We came out pretty businesslike game one,” Halfaker said.

The Centurions evened the match with a 25-17 victory, but Ramona took the lead with a 25-23 triumph in the third game.

“Came back, made some really good adjustments,” Halfaker said.

The Bulldogs’ ability to adjust resulted in a 25-12 victory in the fourth game to seal the match.

“We handled them pretty well,” Halfaker said.

West Hills was seeded third.

“They were a very formidable opponent. They had a very tall lineup,” Halfaker said. “We were no match for them. We played well with them. It was difficult for us to generate any kind of a first strike.”

The Wolfpack prevailed in 25-12, 25-11, and 25-4 games.

“When we had the opportunity to get an effective first strike for a serve-receive we rallied pretty well with them,” said Halfaker.

“The score didn’t really reflect our ability to rally with them,” Halfaker said. “That’s different than playing badly.”

Halfaker noted that the score in the third game wasn’t a matter of her players conceding.

“They did not give up. They never give up,” she said. “They didn’t care what the score was. They played with a lot of dignity, integrity, and I’m very proud of them.”

The two playoff matches gave Ramona a final season record of 21-12, including a 6-4 Valley League figure which earned third place in the league standings.