El Camino Real Spikes Hopes of Cleveland

El Camino Real High took another big step toward a girls’ West Valley League volleyball title Wednesday afternoon as the host Conquistadores stopped a dangerous Cleveland squad, 15-9, 15-12, 10-15, 15-9, and remained in a first-place tie with Chatsworth.

The Conquistadores (9-2, 7-1 in league play) rallied in the second and fourth games behind the experienced offensive combination of middle blocker Jessica Dinaberg and setter Heather Allen. The comeback effort virtually ended Cleveland’s hopes for a title.

Chatsworth (9-2, 7-1) defeated Kennedy to keep pace with El Camino Real.

“Mentally, we’re on our way to where we should be,” said El Camino Real Coach Lori Chandler, whose team will play Taft (1-7 in league play) and Reseda (5-6 overall, 3-5) in its final league matches next week. “Earlier in the season, our girls lacked confidence. They’re getting a lot of confidence now.”

After sweeping Cleveland on the road about two weeks ago, El Camino Real was surprised by the fight put up Wednesday by the young but improving Cavaliers.

“It was definitely a challenge,” Allen said. “I wasn’t expecting it.”

Allen, who finished with 42 assists, and Dinaberg, who tallied 24 kills, got off to quick starts in the first game as the Conquistadores turned a 4-4 tie into a 12-4 lead. Cleveland (8-3, 5-3) got as close as 12-9 before Dinaberg closed out the game with three kills.

Cleveland relied on strong blocking by Carolyn Penfield to sprint out to a 5-0 lead in the second game. But Dinaberg led the Conquistadores back with six kills and a dink on the final point.

Penfield, a 6-foot-1 sophomore who finished with seven blocks and seven kills, sparked the Cavaliers from a 9-9 tie to a momentum-turning win in the third game, but the Cavaliers lost that edge after holding a 5-3 lead in the fourth game.

El Camino Real’s Hellen Hong appeared to hit a sharp, cross-court serve out of bounds. The linesman called it wide, but the umpire ruled the shot good. The head referee ruled to replay the serve; Hong then ran off 10 consecutive points, two on aces.

With El Camino Real holding a 13-5 lead, it was just a matter of time before the Conquistadores finished off the match on an ace by Dinaberg and a spike by Anne Mogensen.

“We wanted this match,” a disappointed Cleveland Coach Klaus Endrissat said. “Our hitting wasn’t as hard as it could be and we showed a lot of inexperience.”

Besides the outstanding play of Penfield at middle blocker, the Cavaliers received strong play from outside hitter Michele Diana, who had a team-leading 13 kills.