Providence volleyball dominates decisive fifth game to defeat Flintridge Prep

It was a clash of evenly matched girls’ volleyball teams when Flintridge Prep took on Providence High Wednesday evening in a nonleague contest.

That parity was evident through the first four games, as the teams headed to a decisive fifth game.

In the clincher, the Pioneers used a dominant serving sequence from Nicole St. Denis to build an early lead that the Rebels were unable to battle back from, as Providence was able to secure a 17-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-15, 15-5 victory at Flintridge Prep.

“When you’re playing on the varsity level, you should be excited about getting into a fifth game,” said Providence Coach James Jimenez, whose team is ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division VIII. “I was pleased with the way that we came out in that fifth game. Defensively, we played well.

“Obviously [Flintridge Prep] has some big hitters, bigger than a lot of teams that we’ve seen. But I challenged our players to play Providence defense, the defense that we know we can play, and they did it.”

The Rebels (5-7-1) took a 2-1 lead in games, dominating in the opener and winning in a tight contest in the third stanza.

“I think we’re an inconsistent team and I really think that comes with being a young team,” said Rebels Coach Sean Beattie, whose squad has five new starters this season. “But I think that consistency is going to come as we get better and better.

“I told our players they have spurts where play really, really good volleyball and they have other spurts where I think, ‘Wow, I don’t see this team very often.’ That is going to hurt us if we can’t remedy that, especially in our league where there are some tough teams.”

In the fifth game, Providence (14-3) jumped out to a 3-0 lead. After a Prep kill by sophomore Courtney Johnson (15 kills) made it 3-1, St. Denis (20 digs, nine aces) stepped to the service live. She helped fuel an 8-0 Providence run with five aces, putting her team ahead, 11-1. The Pioneers were able to close out the game and the match when a Rebels attack went long.

“In that fifth game, it all comes down to practice and being prepared for a situation like that and being able to handle the pressure,” said St. Denis, a sophomore. “It’s just a mentality and no matter what, you have to just always keep playing.

“We had that excitement in that fifth game and that’s why we were able to pull it all together.”

The Pioneers received 11 kills and four blocks from senior Ava Midkiff, 10 kills from junior Sarah Cox, 33 assists and 15 digs from senior Alyssa Camacho and 18 digs and five blocks from senior Danica Tagupa.

Freshman Ellen Chang paced the Rebels with 17 kills, while junior Jade Whaley contributed 42 assists and senior Taylor Yoshida had 27 digs.

The Rebels began the match with a fine effort in the opening game. Providence only led in the very early going before Flintridge Prep seized control and dominated down the stretch.

Providence was able to come back in the second game, however, to tie the contest at 1. The Pioneers led from the outset; taking advantage of 15 Flintridge Prep unforced errors.

The teams battled in a close third set, with the Rebels taking a lead midway through and never relinquishing it.

But the Rebels couldn’t maintain that momentum in the fourth game, as Providence took the lead, 12-11, and outscored Flintridge Prep, 13-4, the rest of the way.