PREP VOLLEYBALL : Capistrano Valley Survives Injury to Claim Victory

Despite losing middle blocker Eric Seiffert to an ankle injury early in the championship game of the California Volleyball Tournament of Champions, Capistrano Valley defeated Fresno Bullard, 15-7, Saturday at Cal State Northridge.

“That felt good,” outside hitter Aaron Garcia said. “It was tough without Seiffert. He’s a big part of our offense. But Mike Dalton and Bryan Mayes did a great job. They really pulled it together and we hardly missed a beat.”

Seiffert aggravated an ankle injury (suffered during basketball season) with the Capistrano Valley ahead, 2-0. He did not return. Capistrano Valley led the entire game.

“We knew we had to get the easy points,” said Garcia, a 6-3 senior. “If we turned it into a marathon, they probably would have come out on top. They are bigger in the middle than we are.”

Garcia and Seiffert are members of the U.S. Junior National team.

Capistrano Valley’s biggest scare came in the quarterfinal game against Poway. They trailed, 13-12, but rallied to score the next three points and won, 15-12. Steve Thornton had kills on two of the final three points.

“That was scary,” Garcia said about the Poway game. “They were really fired up to play, and we came out a little slow.”

Capistrano Valley was 7-1 in pool play Saturday at Los Angeles Pierce College. They then won all four games played in the championship round at Northridge.

“(Poway) played as aggressively as you can play in a one-game format,” said Capistrano Valley Coach Ken Goldstone. “I can’t imagine them playing that way in a five-game match. But we hung in there and I really liked the way we played.”

The Cougars defeated Granada Hills, 15-6, in the semifinal and downed Marshall, 15-7, in the round of 16.

San Clemente lost to Los Angeles Bell, 15-9, in the round of 16. El Toro, La Quinta and Marina didn’t advance out of pool play.