Dinaberg Sparks El Camino Real to Berth in City Volleyball Final

For the second week in a row, the El Camino Real High girls’ volleyball team found its season one game from extinction, and once again the Conquistadores turned to Jessica Dinaberg.

The result was a 15-9, 9-15, 15-11, 2-15, 15-5 victory over University in a City Section 4-A Division semifinal Wednesday night at Hamilton High.

After El Camino Real lost game four because of breakdowns when receiving service, Coach Lori Chandler changed her rotation and put Dinaberg in the front row instead of as lead server.

Dinaberg took control, bashing out three kills and making two blocks to give the Conquistadores (13-2) a 7-3 lead in the final game. Dinaberg then showed her skill from the service line with two aces in a four-point run that pushed the lead to 11-3.

Dinaberg returned to the front for El Camino Real to close out the match. Dinaberg did the damage with a pair of resounding kills to send the Conquistadores to the final.

El Camino Real will take on two-time defending 4-A champion Palisades on Nov. 22 at Cal State Northridge in a rematch of last year’s finalists. Palisades advanced to the final with a 15-7, 14-16, 14-16, 15-9, 16-14 victory over Venice in a 2 1/2-hour match earlier Wednesday at Hamilton.

Dinaberg finished with 22 kills and four blocks. El Camino Real setter Heather Allen added 31 assists.

The Conquistadores took advantage of University hitting errors to build a 5-1 edge in the first game and Dinaberg finished off the Warriors with six kills.

But poor passing, particularly when receiving service, got El Camino Real in trouble in game two.

Big hitting from Alana Collins and solid serving from Jacqui Tom and Jamie Akhavi helped University to a 9-5 lead. Although the Conquistadores made several runs, they could not catch up.

It was the Warriors’ turn to crack in game three as six service errors stole University’s momentum and El Camino Real took advantage to grab a 10-3 lead.

University (9-6) regained its serving touch and rallied to within 14-11, but Cheryl Gurney closed out the game with an ace to give El Camino Real a 2-1 edge.