Atwater edges Merced in five-game CCC volleyball thriller

Toni Garcia was yelling as she stomped her feet. The Atwater High School volleyball coach sprang out of her seat to argue that Merced touched the ball four times and her team should be awarded a point midway through the fifth game Wednesday night.

What Garcia didn’t see was the official had already awarded the point to the Falcons and was holding up four fingers, signaling a fourth touch.

“He was late to call it,” Garcia said, laughing after the match. “As I was screaming, the girls were saying, ‘He’s holding up four fingers.’ All I was seeing was red.”

That’s how intense the match was as the Falcons pulled out a thrilling 22-25, 25-17, 25-18, 18-25, 16-14 win over the Bears.

Atwater (1-1 Central California Conference) had to hold off a hard-charging Merced team that had momentum on its side and was playing with confidence after winning game four.

“It was stressful for sure,” said Falcons junior Abby Knapp, who had 14 kills and three blocks. “I knew we could do it. I thought we could have done it in the fourth game, but it just took a little longer.”

It was an up-and-down match for both teams.

Merced (4-6, 0-2) is a team that feeds off emotion. When the Bears are jumping up and down, yelling and screaming, they play better.

That’s how they started the match, but they looked like a different team in the second and third games.

“We don’t know why it is,” Merced senior Rheanne Lewis said. “We feed off obnoxiousness. Their rally section making noise and screaming at us helps us play our best. We need to be loud. We need the noise.”

Lewis did her best to keep the Bears in the match. She was diving, leaping and throwing her body all over the court to keep the ball from hitting the floor. She finished with 16 kills, 18 digs, five aces and three blocks.

Lewis scored three consecutive points on a tip, a block and another tip that gave Merced an 18-12 lead in the fourth game and forced Atwater to call timeout to regroup.

Drenched in sweat after the match, Lewis had a tough time accepting the loss.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “Obviously, this match could have gone to either team. We chose to take it to five because we didn’t play well in the games we lost. The last game – during a timeout – I’m telling my teammates we’re not going to get moments like this again. We have to conquer this right now. It was exciting volleyball. It’s the type of matches you want to play.”

Jordan Pierce also played well for the Bears, recording 15 kills. Rylie Linden had 15 assists and five aces.

Jordan Turner came up big for the Falcons, especially when Knapp was off the floor. Turner led Atwater with 18 kills. Brittany Massa played well in the back row, leading the Falcons with 24 digs.

Pitman 3, Golden Valley 0 in Merced – Yisel Perez (12 kills) and Whitney Barnes (11 kills, two blocks) paced the Pride (13-1, 2-0 CCC) to a 25-23, 25-17, 25-12 win over the host Cougars (0-2). Abbee Croninger and Kendra Barroso had seven kills each for Golden Valley.

Turlock 3, Buhach Colony 0 in Turlock – Emily Romo’s 15 kills and three aces helped the Bulldogs defeat the Thunder 25-10, 25-15, 25-15. Jadyn Tubbs had 16 kills and Julia Handy had 35 assists and two blocks for Turlock (19-2, 2-0 CCC).

Stone Ridge Christian 3, Brookside Christian 0 in Stockton – Aubriana Vander Woude’s eight kills and Morgan McCreary’s 11 aces helped the Knights sweep Brookside Christian 25-8, 25-11, 25-12.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 10:40 PM with the headline "Atwater edges Merced in five-game CCC volleyball thriller."