Stone Ridge Christian falls in five-game volleyball playoff thriller

Stone Ridge Christian sophomore Nelson Machado picked the wrong teammate to crash into in Jonathan Collazo.

Just ask the linebackers this fall that tried to tackle the chiseled 6-foot, 200-pound running back who ran for 1,826 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Machado and Collazo collided going for a ball in the first game and Machado was left with a possible broken nose, which kept him sidelined for the bulk of Monday night’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoff match against Vacaville Christian.

The Knights’ defense and passing suffered as they eventually lost a thrilling 29-27, 25-16, 22-25, 23-25, 15-12 marathon to the No. 10 seed Falcons (15-6).

“Nelson means so much to our team,” said Stone Ridge Christian setter Davis Greenwood. “He’s one of our three best diggers. When he went out, I thought, ‘Crap, we’re probably going to lose.’”

Machado’s nose didn’t stand a chance.

“It might be broken in two places,” Machado said. “I jumped up as his elbow came down. Clunk, there goes my nose.”

Machado came in briefly midway through the match, but his nose began bleeding again. He returned again late in game four and helped the Knights force a fifth game.

However, the Falcons ruined the feel-good story by outlasting No. 7 seed SRC (15-2) in game five.

“I was so irritated,” Machado said. “I thought this might be my last game and I wasn’t OK with that. I wanted to play. I was glad I was able to pop in the game and play a little bit. I helped us a bit, but it wasn’t enough.”

The Knights were already short-handed with just eight players, which they’ve been playing with the past few weeks.

Communication was an issue with guys playing new positions.

“I don’t want to say the injury deflated us, but it shocked us,” said Stone Ridge Christian coach Ken Shaw. “We had guys in the wrong positions with new responsibilities. It’s tough when you build a rapport with someone next to you and then they’re gone.”

Stone Ridge Christian still battled back from 17-9 deficit in the first game behind strong serving from Greenwood, who finished with four aces to go along with 26 assists and seven kills. The Knights actually had three serves for game point, but the Falcons came away with the 29-27 win to take a 1-0 lead.

Vacaville Christian then jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the second game and cruised to a 2-0 lead.

The Knights finally started coming together in the third game as Collazo started hammering away some swings on his way to 22 kills to go along with 18 digs.

Justin Jones also knocked down some key kills as Stone Ridge worked its way to a deciding fifth game and with Machado back on the floor it looked like the Knights had momentum on their side.

The fifth game was tied 10-10 when the Falcons ran off four consecutive points to open up a 14-10 lead. The Knights staved off two match points, but Wade Davis picked up the final kill for Vacaville Christian to propel the Falcons into the second round on Thursday against No. 2 seed Del Oro.

“The script was set, but it was a three-point difference from the movie ending,” Shaw said. “It was still a fantastic night of volleyball.”

It was a great season, which included a Western Athletic Conference championship, for the first-year program.

“We started from scratch,” Shaw said. “The boys didn’t know an approach or how to pass, serve or dig. We started from ground zero. It helped that I had so many helpers. My girls (Stone Ridge girls volleyball players) were a major help at practice and on the bench.

“We did as many drills as we could at the start of the season because I wanted to give them as many touches as possible. I’m proud of how far we’ve come.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Stone Ridge Christian falls in five-game volleyball playoff thriller."