The Dons rolled into Stockton’s Lincoln High School around 7:15am Saturday morning, ready to do battle with what would prove to be a very competitive field. Coach Roman Seguerre and Allen Go were each getting their daughters settled in at college so varsity Coach Haley Walsh was behind the wheel, assisted by Acalanes varsity players Mika Bocobo, Hannah Hageboeck and Kaitlyn Olin – thank you ladies!
There were teams from all over northern California in attendance with most hailing from the Sacramento and Central Valley regions. The tournament format had each team playing four matches with losing teams dropping into consolation brackets as the day progressed, the key being to get as far along as you can before suffering a loss, and to mis-quote the Dude, “the Dons abided”…
Match #1: Acalanes vs Lincoln High (Stockton) – Dons win 2 sets to 0
Set #1: Dons win 25-9
The Dons took on the host school in their first contest of the day and jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead. Sydney Graves executed a great back-set to Veronica Flint who had a nice kill for point 5 of the set. The Trojans didn’t have an answer for Ellie Blanchard’s powerful serves, racking up 9 in a row including a pair of aces. Sydney and Sela Sarbiewski each served up three points in a row while Brooke Rardin served up two of her own. Maggie Krackeler has a strong kill set up by Maya Stafford who also set up Audrey Martin to put the set away for point 25.
Set #2: Dons win 25-15
The Dons kept things rolling in the second set as they built up an 18-6 lead, powered by strong serving from Brooke who notched 8 points, including the final three of the match. The Dons were actively rotating throughout the set as Maggie, Veronica and Juliana Harhay each had a pair of kills, two of which were set up nicely by Emma Brewer. Valeria Toledo had a nice block on the net to help stifle Lincoln’s attempted comeback while Grace Hayes’s four service points widened the lead as the Dons sailed on to victory.
Match #2: Acalanes vs Del Oro High (Loomis) – Dons win 2 sets to 1
Set #1: Dons win 25-15
After cruising to a win in the first match the Dons immediately returned to the court for their next contest and found themselves behind 0-3 as the Golden Eagles pounded them with strong serving. Sela put the Dons on the board with a strong kill and Ellie’s four subsequent service points put the Dons up 4-3. Del Oro played tough and the momentum seemed to be going their way as they built up a 10-7 lead. Grace came to the rescue with five strong service points, including an ace, which promoted the Eagles to call time out, but Grace was not to be iced, putting up a sixth point when play resumed as the Don’s had clearly established nice momentum of their own. Phoebe Gerlings had nice passes later in the match, keeping the Eagles strong serves in play while Maya had a nice setter-dump-point late in the match. Brooke’s strong serving continued as she closed-out the set with four consecutive service points.
Set #2: Dons lose 18-25
The Golden Eagles came out strong for the second set behind powerful serving and nice cross court passing. The Dons seemed a bit out of sorts early on, falling behind 1-9 and unable to generate much momentum until Sela’s three service points got things rolling. Sydney’s amazing dig led to the Dons narrowing their deficit to 5-9, prompting the Del Oro coach to call time out so the Golden Eagles could regroup. The match went back and forth after that with the Dons narrowing the gap to 12-14 on a nice kill from Audrey but it wasn’t meant to be as Del Oro took control and went on to win 25-18.
Set #3: Dons win 15-7
The Dons didn’t look like themselves in the second set while the Golden Eagles seemed to get better as the set progressed, so the loyal Dons fanbase was on the edge of their (frightening high) seats as the third set began. The teams were evenly matched early on as the Dons established a thin 3-2 lead. Grace’s four service points provided some breathing room and Maya’s nice dig led to an Ellie kill that put the Don’s up 8-5. While each point was competitive, the score never got closer as Juliana’s two blocks at the net added to the Dons’ lead. The fourteenth point provided some of the best action of the match as the rally went back and forth several times with Phoebe consistently answering the Eagle’s strikes with nice passes that eventually led to Ellie putting the point away.
Match #3 (Semi-finals): Acalanes vs St Francis High School (Sacramento) – Dons lose 2 sets to 0
Set #1: Dons lose 19-25
Having made the semi-finals, the Dons accomplished the goal of getting deep into the tournament before dropping a match. A win would send them to the finals and a chance for 1stplace and a loss would send them to the consolation bracket and a chance for 3rd. Their opponent in the semi-finals was a very strong St Francis team.
The Dons quickly found themselves down 1-5 as St Francis pounded them with powerful serves and consistent strikes coming from both sides of the court. While the Dons didn’t initially have an answer to the speed and power of the Troubadours (you read that right, the Troubadours), they seemed to adjust as the set progressed, focusing on the basics and narrowing the deficit to 7-10 behind strong serves from Maggie.
The Dons hung in there with nice kills from Ellie, Juliana and Phoebe but the Troubadours sweet music was too much for them as they took control for a 19-25 win.
Set #2: Dons lose 17-25
The Dons are no strangers to dropping a set but coming back strong and it seemed like that might happen again as the Dons played tough with the score tied 3-3 in early action. Ellie chipped in for three service points including an ace. St Francis kept the pressure on with consistent hard strikes and the Dons adjusted their approach, keeping the ball in play with strong play from Ellie and Grace. Brooke had an amazing save that led to an impressive kill from Maggie who kept the pressure on with several strong hits. Juliana had a strong kill for point 15 but the Troubadours were just too much for us today and went on to win the set and take first place in the tournament.
Match #4 (Consolation round): Acalanes vs St Mary’s High School (Stockton) – Dons lose 2 sets to 1
Set #1: Dons lose 16-25
The St Mary’s players were spectators while the Dons tangled with the Troubadours and their players were cheering enthusiastically for our gals. They even learned most of our players’ names and cheered loud and hard, which was sweet; but having lost their semi-final game to Oak Ridge, they were now our opponents, so it was game-on!
The Rams were a strong team with powerful serves and committed relatively few unforced errors, meaning the Dons were going to have to earn their points. As such, there were no epic service runs in this one and the score was tight early on at 4-4behind strong net play from Sela. The Dons found themselves falling behind as the set progressed, despite Grace being literally all over the court saving balls. Emma had a nice set to Audrey for a late kill but this set went to the Rams 25-16.
Set #2: Dons win 25-16
The Dons seemed to adjust to the rhythm of the first set as they looked much better early on in this one, communicating well with each other and moving the ball around nicely. Maggie’s kill put the Dons up 3-1 early on and she pitched in for three service points later in the set. Ellie had an amazing dig that ultimately led to her putting the point away with a hard hit down the line to give the Dons a 10-3 lead. The momentum continued as Sydney served an ace in the corner for point 13 and set up Juliana for a hard kill for point 19. The Dons weren’t going to let this one get away as Valeria had a nice save of a ball off the net and Maya had a nice dig to go along with her two service points. Sela put the Dons up 17-7 with a strong kill, the largest lead of the set. Veronica had two kills, one of which came on point 15 after yet another incredible save by Brook – this point was a marathon affair and likely took the winds of the Rams sails as the Dons went on to win 25-16.
Set#3: Dons lose 10-15
The pressure was on in the final set of the tournament but you wouldn’t know it looking at the Dons as they jumped out to quick 6-1 lead. Ellie had three service points early on and settled into a rhythm of bumping the powerful St Marys’ serves. Sydney’s three service points grew the Dons’ lead to 7-2 but the Rams hung tough (Ram tough?!) and went on a 6-1 streak to tie the game at 8-8. Unfortunately the momentum had shifted in favor of the Rams at this point and the Dons found themselves playing from behind. Maya set Ellie up for a nice kill late in the match but it wasn’t enough as the Rams held on to win 15-10.
Congratulations to the Dons for taking fourth place! These were the most experienced teams we have run up against this season and seeing the girls adjust in real-time was inspiring. It takes time for any team to become a well-oiled machine and there’s no better way to get there than playing against a high level of competition. Everyone would like to win every game but I suspect this experience will serve the team very well as they move forward with the rest of their season and league play.
As a side note, if we haven’t already created loads of Megalodon merchandise, we should give Troubadours a serious look, I’m just saying…
