After battling back from the brink of elimination in its NCS semifinal match vs. Las Lomas, the Redwood volleyball team took an early lead in the decisive fifth game and seemed on its way to an epic comeback victory.
But despite Redwood’s momentum, Las Lomas came roaring back to win the final game 15-12 and end the Giants’ season. Las Lomas moved on to the NCS final, securing an automatic spot in the NorCal volleyball tournament and a chance to reach the state final.
Las Lomas, the NCS fourth seed, shocked first seeded Redwood early in the match by taking the first two games 25-23 and 25-21.
The defending NCS champion Giants struggled to return serves all night long, as Las Lomas had 17 aces.
Captain Lauren Smith, playing in her last game as a Giant, said that there were simply too many errors early on, but that she was proud of the way her team fought back from the early deficit.
“Technically, we made too many errors and mentally [it was] kind of hard when they got up on us,” Smith said, one of just two seniors on the team. “The missed serves and the hitter errors out were just detrimental.”
Redwood never quit, though.
With her team tied 8-8 in the third game, junior Sierra Dawson won her two service points before making an athletic dig on a Las Lomas spike to set up Sophie Digrazia for the kill. Redwood grabbed the lead and held on to win the third game 25-18.
“We did not want that to be our last game,” Smith said. “Sierra did a really good job leading the team.”
After taking the fourth game 25-23, Redwood seemed to have momentum on their side, despite a crowd with more Las Lomas students than Redwood students.
However, tied 9-9 in the fifth game, Las Lomas finally took back control and closed out a match that at first seemed like an easy win.
Despite the heartbreaking Redwood loss, Smith said that next year’s team has the chance to be one of the best to ever come out of Redwood, noting that there has been tremendous improvement this year.
“This season has been an amazing experience and everyone has gotten so much better,” she said. “Next year, I look forward to seeing them win state.”
