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Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009

Atwater volleyball takes heart in success

SACRAMENTO -- There were a few watery eyes. But mostly smiles as the Atwater volleyball team walked off the court for the final time.

And for good reason.

It was one heck of a ride.

Sacramento St. Francis ended Atwater's season with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-21 victory in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II semifinals on Tuesday night.

"Something didn't click that game," Atwater senior Nicole Heller said. "We pushed them. They just pushed a little harder. But I wouldn't change anything we did. It was awesome."

At 5-foot-10, Heller was the tallest player on the little team that could.

However, they finally ran into an opponent that was too tall, too fast and too talented.

St. Francis towered over Atwater with a front line that featured a 6-4 middleblocker in Zoe Nightengale (11 kills and four blocks) and two outside hitters in 6-0 Kasey Clark (14 kills) and 6-1 Mary Clark (14 kills).

"We kept up with them," Heller said. "We knew they were very, very good. We knew what we were up against. It's hard to play when our tallest girl is as tall as their shortest outside hitter. It was a challenge but we stepped up."

Atwater played St. Francis toe-to-toe in the first two games.

With aggressive serves and its signature scrappy defense, Atwater had its opportunities early.

Atwater (17-1) scored six of the first seven points of the match. However, St. Francis countered with a 9-1 run midway through the game to take a 14-10 lead. The two teams went back and forth the rest of the game, but Atwater was never able to put together a significant run to put any pressure on St. Francis.

"Atwater played to their strengths, which is their defense," said St. Francis coach Alynn Wright, whose team improved to 35-6 and will play Rocklin in the section title game on Thursday at UC Davis. "They're a very, very scrappy team. Their high-setting, slow-tempo offense gave us problems. Our blockers are used to facing faster offenses.

"It took us about a game and half to figure it out. Once we figured it out and got our timing, I think you could see things change. But Atwater played with tremendous heart. You can see why they upset some teams and have the record they do."

Meanwhile, adjusting to St. Francis' up-tempo offense was even more difficult for Atwater.

St. Francis setter Lyana Perez set up her giants beautifully on her way to 38 assists.

"We're so tiny, it's hard to get a block up and then build a defense around it," said Atwater coach Toni Muratore. "At times, we're almost a non factor at the net and that's tough. They can hit all over the court and that happened tonight.

"They're also very fast. We don't see fast teams like that."

Still, Atwater worked its way out in front late in the second game.

Marissa Guardado served up one of her five aces to give Atwater a 22-19 lead. However, St. Francis stormed back with three straight points to tie the game at 22-22.

An errant serve gave Atwater another brief lead at 23-22, but St. Francis answered right back. A kill by Casey Clark, a Perez ace and a block by Kiki Kosler gave St. Francis game two and a 2-0 lead.

Atwater had no magic left in the tank.

"Tonight's sad because we didn't win, but when we look back after everything we accomplished we're only going to remember the great memories," said Atwater senior Jaclyn Frank. "We'll remember going undefeated in league, making it to the third round of the playoffs and all the good things that happened this year."