USDHS Starts Strong, but Falters in Volleyball

In the end, they couldn’t finish what they started.

The USDHS girls’ volleyball team won the first game of its Division III Southern California Regional semifinal against Orange El Modena Saturday afternoon, then dropped the next three.

“I can’t explain it,” USDHS Coach Rob Gorney said. “They got tense and (El Modena) really came on.”

Tears were shed after the 6-15, 15-8, 15-9, 15-7 loss to Century League champion El Modena (23-2), for they way the Dons lost as much as the loss itself. After coming out in the first game looking state championship-bound, they were taken out of the match.

USDHS did an admirable job of siding out the last three games but continued to shoot itself in the foot when it came to scoring. Several missed opportunities were the result of mishits and miscommunication. In game four, USDHS had 13 unforced errors.

“Our serving and passing fell apart,” said senior Kate Stockholm, who led the Dons with 17 kills. “We weren’t consistent at all. Our intensity went down. When you start missing those things, it affects your communication.”

Nothing USDHS did affected the performance of El Modena’s Marni Hichborn and Sarena Syphers, who took turns terrorizing the Dons in the middle, or the big outside threat of Lynette Anderson.

El Modena Coach Craig Tefertiller said he was surprised USDHS didn’t rally and attributed it to the Dons lack of tough-match seasoning.

“I thought they’d be better in this situation,” he said. “But with only one loss, maybe they’re not used to (being behind.)”

Exactly. This fall has been a big winning blur for USDHS (21-2), winners of two tournaments and a sixth San Diego Section title. The Dons’ only regular-season loss was the Western League co-champion La Jolla.

“We’ve played some high-quality opponents,” Gorney said, “but it would be nice if we could schedule it so we’d get them more consistently.”