Passing grade: Golden Valley volleyball needs five games to get past Lodi in its first-round playoff victory at home.

There's a part of Matt Thissen that welcomes a road trip to Shingle Springs on Thursday.

The Golden Valley girls volleyball coach can't figure why his team struggles so much at home.

The Cougars put their fans through torture again on Tuesday night as Golden Valley had to sweat out a 33-31, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-8 win over Lodi in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs.

"An ugly win is better than a pretty loss," Thissen said. "I don't know why we have struggled at home this year. We've struggled all year at our place.

"At one point I had to question their desire. Did they want to do this? We were fortunate to get a win tonight."

All three of the Cougars' Central California Conference losses came at home.

They'll head to Shingle Springs to face No. 3 seed Ponderosa in the second round on Thursday.

The Bruins swept Beyer in three games in the first round.

"If you want to go deep in the playoffs you have to beat the best teams at some point," Thissen said. "We just have to play better. We did not play very well."

From the opening game you could tell the Cougars (15-4) were in for a struggle.

"We know we didn't play our best," said junior Maddie Madayag, who finished with 11 kills and 20 digs. "We just stayed together. We kept talking and we were able to pull it out."

The match started with a marathon of a first game.

Neither team could gain control as they went back and forth before Lexi Vieira finally put together back-to-back aces to give GV the 33-31 win.

After a back-breaking loss you would think momentum would be on the Cougars' side.

However, it was the Flames that outplayed GV, winning the next two games.

Jessica Malcolm and Kelley McConahey led Lodi (15-4) with 11 kills each.

"It was our typical Lodi routine," Flames coach Krista Brereton said. "We win two games and then relax. I wish it wasn't. It's my fault because I don't know how to fix that."

The Cougars finally woke up in the fourth game.

Reina Sykes picked up her play, recording four of her 17 kills and two of her six blocks in the fourth game.

Kat Blake (17 kills) came up with some big put-away shots late.

Del Oro 3,

Buhach Colony 0

LOOMIS -- The Thunder's late season struggles carried into the playoffs with a 25-13, 25-16, 25-11 loss. Rachel Andrews led BC with five kills and two blocks.

"We were not in sync at any point in the match," Thunder coach Michelle Osmer said. "They were big, but we dug them. We just mishandled too many balls and got caught out of position."

Summerville 3,

Le Grand 0

SUMMERVILLE -- The Bulldogs saw their season end with a 25-18, 25-17, 25-7 loss to the Bears. Guilianna Marchini finished with three kills and three blocks.

Turlock Christian 3,

Stone Ridge Chr. 0

TURLOCK -- Iyesha McNab recorded seven kills and one block in the Knights' 25-10, 25-20, 25-22 loss.