Stone Ridge Christian volleyball riding athleticism to top of WAC

The Stone Ridge Christian High School boys volleyball team has benefited from a lack of options.

True, the Knights have far less of a student body to pool from than anyone else in the Western Athletic Conference. But with baseball and golf the only other spring options for boys, volleyball coach Ken Shaw has recruited some of the top athletes on campus.

That bounty, coupled with a little volleyball experience, has helped the Knights distinguish themselves as one of the teams to beat in this inaugural season. That athleticism also has helped offset when Stone Ridge hasn’t been firing on all cylinders, as was the case Monday evening.

The Knights lacked their usual polish, and a scrappy Pacheco squad made life difficult. SRC turned it on when it mattered most and pulled out a 25-22, 25-16, 25-20 sweep of the visiting Panthers.

“They made some mistakes you’d expect them to make after two days off,” Shaw said. “Monday games are always tough, but I’m not really sure why our guys were so tight tonight.

“This isn’t the primary sport for almost any of them, so we don’t always have full intensity or focus. Fortunately, we do have a number of guys out there that are athletic enough to compensate when we’re off. And as we showed tonight, they’re able to turn it on and finish off sets when things start to get too tight.”

Pacheco (4-9, 4-5 WAC) made sure most of the match was tight. The Panthers don’t have the big hitters Stone Ridge possesses, but they have an abundance of grit and have become vastly more organized as the season has progressed. Those qualities allowed them to extend rallies and let the Knights (10-1, 8-1) make the mistake.

It was a potent plan of attack as Pacheco stormed back into the opening set after Stone Ridge took a 20-10 lead. With Fernando Lopez serving, the Panthers ran off eight consecutive points to trim the lead to 20-18. Leonel Porras had three of his team-high six kills during the run, but the Knights recovered to pull out the opening set.

“It’s getting better all the time, but it’s still a work in progress,” Panthers coach Mike Thurlow said. “We definitely have some good moments, but we’re just not consistent enough, especially against the top teams. We’re right around .500 right now, and that’s probably about where we’re going to finish the season.

“That’s a pretty solid accomplishment for guys essentially playing for the first time.”

Pacheco has struggled with holding and wielding momentum. That issue resurfaced in set two in the form of service errors.

The teams went back and forth for most of the set, but five service errors just after Pacheco sideouts killed any opportunity for Panthers runs. SRC finally took advantage with a 6-0 run to take a 20-10 lead. Davis Greenwood (match-high 15 assists) spread the ball during the set as Jonathan Collazo (game-high 11 kills), Justin Jones (seven kills) and Cole Houweling (seven kills) heated up and helped the Knights take a 2-0 lead.

Jesus Martinez (four kills, one block) did his best to rally Pacheco with a big third set. The Panthers responded by going back and forth with Stone Ridge. A Lopez kill trimmed the Knights’ lead to 21-20, but Stone Ridge closed with a 4-0 run. Greenwood put an emphatic exclamation point on the victory, drilling two of his match-high five aces with a powerful jump serve to end the match.

“That might be my favorite part of volleyball,” Greenwood said. “I’ve put a lot of work into my jump serve. I’ve gotten it to the point where I’m pretty consistent with it, and running off a couple aces in a row like that is the ultimate feeling for me.”

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 10:29 PM with the headline "Stone Ridge Christian volleyball riding athleticism to top of WAC."