YOUR Acalanes Dons Volleyball team hosted the #6-Seed San Marin Mustangs in the NCS Division III Playoffs Round of 8 on Saturday night, looking to keep their season going, and it turned out to be quite a roller-coaster.
First Set:
1s: Elsa Clever kills the Rachel Go middle set. A clean “One” to get us started.
4s: Dons come back to tie it early on the Madi Risch pipe kill, set up by a killer dig from Kaylin Hiatt.
5s: Annika Olson kills one after a long, intense rally, featuring good passing by Cailey McVay.
5-9: Mustangs run off four in a row. Timeout Dons.
9-13: Risch kill as the teams trade points.
13-20: Another timeout Dons to try and right the ship.
15-21: Hayes Hollar rips a timely kill.
17-23: Risch kill, but Dons not able to get a scoring run going.
18-25: Rough first set for the Dons.
Second Set:
2-8: Roxy Cummings fires a kill but the Dons quickly fall behind once again. San Marin is playing very well. Timeout Acalanes.
7-12: Clever kill. Dons are fired up and are trying to will their way back into this match.
8-13: Makenzie Sauer tools a blocker for a kill, providing the Dons a spark.
10-13: Solid Go digs, a big Olson roof and a timeout by San Marin.
12-15: Clever. Crusher. Come on!
14-17: Clever again. Oh yeah!
16-17: Great Clever serve causes an overpass… Kennedy Cornish stuffs it down. Yummy.
17-18: Cornish kills the Go set as the Dons desperately fight to try and tie this up.
18-19: Risch pipe kill. Dons…can’t…quite…close…this…gap…yet…
19s: Tied! Hollar Ace!
20-19: Hollar great serve. Overpass. Risch stuff. Yummy! Timeout Mustangs. Dons lead!
20-22: Mustangs stampede back with 3 straight. Timeout Dons.
22-23: Clever kill in the middle. Elsa came to play tonight! Dons still hanging on.
23-25: San Marin with a nice roof block to win the second set.
Third Set:
4-1: Cummings kill. Dons fighting really hard to start this set. Do or die for the season now.
6-1: Risch Ace! Yassss.
8-2: Cummings with a tip winner from REALLY close to the net, and she looks sheepishly at the Ref…no violation.
10-3: Hiatt Ace right on the sideline. Wow.
11-3: Hiatt Ace to the other side this time!
13-3: Risch kill followed by yet another Hiatt Ace. Hat trick!
17-6: Risch hits it deep to the back line. In!
21-9: Clever Ace. Dons really rolling now.
23-13: Risch pipe kill. No doubt on that one.
24-13: Hollar Ace! Set point. Hollah, hollah, hollah!
25-13: Dons take the third. Still alive!
Fourth Set:
2-1: Cummings kill then Clever Ace and the Dons lead.
3-1: Clever Ace again. Still do or die for Acalanes.
6-3: Hollar Ace.
7-3: See above. SO many aces tonight. Great serving.
8-3: Cornish super angle kill. Wow.
11-3: Risch Bomb Kill.
12-3: Cornish Rooooof. Yes Ken.
15-4: Clever rips one. Firing on all cylinders.
19-6: Olson kill after an Olson block! Anniiiiiii!
23-10: Cummings finds a seam.
24-11: Cornish! Roof! Set point.
25-11: Risch! Yes! Set over! Dons roar back to tie this match at 2 all and we go to the fifth and final set to see if the Dons season can continue.
Fifth Set:
2s: Clever crushes one off of a Mustang player for a point. Everyone is OK. Big hit. High level of tension in this gym right now.
3-4: Cummings kill. Needed it to keep the Dons close.
6-5: Hollar Ace! Woo!
7s: Risch scores with a one-armed solo block. Fantastic. Tied again.
8-7: Risch with another block.
9-7: McVay Ace! McYes!
10-7: Crazy ping-pong point. Clever roofs it to score!
11-9: Risch kill halts a Mustang mini-run.
12-9: Go Ace! Perfect time for it.
13-9: Risch kill again. Rachel and Madi are locked in. Timeout Mustangs. Dons are getting close now.
14-9: Go!!! Ace!!! Match point!
14-10…14-11…14-12…Timeout Dons. Goodness.
And off of the timeout San Marin serves it long! Out! Oh My! Dons Win!
And so the Dons live to play again this year, and they will head to the Matadome on Wednesday night this week to face Miramonte in the NCS Semi-finals. You and your friends gotta be there!