Modesto's Gregori comes up short in final

DAVIS -- Gregori volleyball coach Ron Silva quickly gathered his team on the court after the match.

The Jaguars didn't get the result they wanted, losing to El Camino 25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18 in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 championship game on Thursday night at UC Davis.

However, Silva wanted to tell his players just how proud he was and we wanted to deliver them a message: They'll be back.

With only one senior on the roster, the Jaguars, a Modesto Metro Conference champion in each of its varsity seasons, have a great shot to make another deep playoff run next year.

"I think it was an incredible season for a program that is only in its second varsity season," Silva said. "To make it to the finals? Not many teams can say that."

Second-seeded Gregori (33-4) gave the top seed everything it had.

Junior Maycie LaBass put on a show with a few thunderous spikes. The 6-foot outside hitter paced Gregori with 22 kills, three blocks and six digs.

Setter Emilee VanDyke orchestrated the offense with 32 assists.

It's hard to believe a school that opened in 2010 already had a volleyball team competing for a section title.

"I've known Ron Silva for a long time," El Camino coach Martin Soyama said. "I saw him before the game and I told him, 'Well, it sure didn't take long for you to get here.' He's setting up a great program."

After dropping the first game, the Jaguars battled back in the second game with the help of LaBass, Sabrina Sordello, Michala Wyrsch (eight kills) and Courtney Robinson.

In a match that didn't see many runs by either team, Gregori closed the second game by winning three of the final four points to tie the match at one game apiece.

The third game was up for grabs late with the score tied at 23-23, but El Camino's Cassidy Denny came up with a big kill to give the Eagles the lead and they took a 2-1 lead.

"I think we played really hard," LaBass said. "I'm proud of our team. (El Camino) is a really good team. They were hurting us with those line shots and we made some mistakes we don't usually make."

El Camino pulled away midway through the fourth game.

Trailing 15-14, the Eagles went on a 10-2 run to take a 24-17 lead. Erianna Williams came up big during the spurt with three kills, two blocks and an ace.

"We started handling the ball better," Soyama said. "We were playing good defense and making good passes. We were making them make extra plays and that's what they were able to do to us in the second game."

Gregori now will wait until Sunday to find out where it will open the Northern California playoffs at next week.

Section Volleyball Scoreboard

Division 2: El Camino 3,Gregori 1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18)

Division 4: Bear River 3,Ripon Chr. 1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23)

Division 5: Woodland Christian 3,Le Grand 0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-20)

Division 6: Turlock Chr. 3, Valley Chr. 3 (25-8, 23-25, 25-13, 25-20)

Noteworthy: By choosing to play in Division 6, Turlock Christian and Valley Christian do not advance to the Northern California tournament.