Western Wins, Extends First Volleyball Season

In its first season, the Western High School volleyball team continues to pioneer new frontiers.

The Pioneers, playing in their first Southern Section 3-A wildcard playoff match, swept El Dorado, 15-9, 15-7, 15-11, at El Dorado.

But Western (11-8) has little time to celebrate. The Pioneers will play at Bishop Montgomery (16-2) tonight in a first-round match. El Dorado ended the season with a 7-11 record.

The playoff victory was a boost to the Pioneers, who began the season with little experience. After a slow start, they rallied to finish third in the Orange League and earn a playoff berth.

“They’re a totally different team now,” Western Coach Annette Quintana said. “At the start of the season, the only experience they had was two-man beach volleyball.

“Bringing them into a gym and teaching them the six-man game was a whole different environment for them.”

It didn’t take them long to figure out how to beat El Dorado. Scott Nelson and Mike Engeman each had four kills as the Pioneers capitalized on nine El Dorado hitting errors to win the first game.

Engeman was effective with several soft dink shots into the middle of the El Dorado defense.

“I told Mike to do that,” Quintana said. “These guys like to pour it on and hit the ball hard. But a kill is a kill, and their middle was wide open.”

Nelson and Engeman continued to hurt El Dorado in the second game. Nelson had five kills and Engeman four as Western built leads of 12-2 and 14-3.

El Dorado put together one streak early in the third game. The Hawks raced to leads of 7-3 and 9-6 before Western rallied with a 9-2 run.

El Dorado committed seven hitting errors in the third game, and had 22 for the match. Western had only nine hitting errors for the match.

Nelson led Western with 16 kills and four blocks, and Engeman added with 11 kills and three blocks. Setter Jon Jonsson had 31 assists, and Chris Jackson added four kills for the Pioneers.

“These guys have really come together and played well,” Quintana said.

Coulter Marshall had 10 kills, Alex McNaughton nine and Darren Mitchell eight for El Dorado.