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Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009
Still a big win: Golden Valley beats Buhach in volleyball
ATWATER -- There wasn't a title on the line.
No playoff berths.
But ask any Golden Valley volleyball player and they'll tell you there was plenty to play for on Tuesday night.
"When we play Buhach Colony there is still something on the line," Golden Valley coach Matt Thissen said.
Thissen's girls did what no other GV team has done: celebrate on Buhach Colony's home court.
Golden Valley picked up its first win ever in the Thunder Dome with a 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17 win in front of a large crowd.
"We knew we couldn't win first, so we wanted to win second and winning here feels good," said GV senior Gina Bandoni, who finished with eight kills and 15 digs.
"They beat us in our gym and we beat them in their house. It's the first time it's been done."
Golden Valley (9-3 Central California Conference, 13-4 overall) took control of the match early.
Five different GV players finished with at least nine kills, including Celeste Castillo (15) and Katelyn Bennett (14).
"We didn't make them work very hard to beat us," said Buhach Colony coach Michelle Osmer, whose team finished the regular season 8-4 and 10-6.
After losing the first two games, the Buhach Colony players went digging into their gym bags and found gold.
Buhach Colony changed out of its black jerseys into gold ones to start the third game.
"That was their thing," Osmer said. "They said it's not going to hurt."
Whether it was the jersey change or not, Buhach Colony did show more life in the third game.
Megan Callahan recorded eight or her match-high 16 kills during the third game.
Suddenly momentum was on BC's bench heading into the fourth game.
However, Golden Valley seized control again with an early seven-point run and later six straight points down the stretch to help close out the match.
"We had a lot of demons showing up in our heads again," Thissen said. "I think we've proven we can beat anybody. But we've also proven when we don't stay mentally strong, we can be beat by just about anybody."
Both teams will find out their playoff fate later this week when the Sac-Joaquin Section releases brackets.
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