HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Gritty Saugus Overcomes Claremont

Her right elbow was so bruised and swollen that she wouldn’t let anyone touch it, but Saugus High’s Lindsay Estes--like the rest of the Centurions--refused to yield to circumstance.

Estes had three crucial kills in the closing moments of Saugus’ gutsy 4-15, 15-11, 15-12, 11-15, 16-14 victory over Claremont in a Southern Section Division III girls’ volleyball playoff semifinal at Canyon High.

“If you step up the pressure, she really thrives, where some people will fall,” Saugus Coach Bobbie Estes said of her daughter. “Did you see her elbow? She (flinched away) when someone on the sideline tried to touch it, then went back in and got a kill.”

Estes had a match-high 27 kills and seemed to respond with a putaway whenever the Centurions (13-2) needed one.

But the real key to the victory was the stubborn determination the entire Saugus team exhibited.

The Centurions played abysmally in the first game and trailed, 7-2, in the second before catching fire and winning the second and third games. They then blew a 9-4 lead in Game 4 to force the tiebreaker.

Claremont (19-1) took a 14-11 lead in the final game on two ace serves by Erin Barnes, but the Centurions came back, aided by Claremont errors.

A kill by Amanda Cresap pulled the Centurions to 14-12, and after a service exchange, Estes had two consecutive kills to tie the score, 14-14. Saugus took a 15-14 lead on a Claremont hitting error, and two sideouts later, Amy Gillis and Laura Wagoner blocked Barnes for the game and match.

“At certain times I got a little scared (we would lose),” Wagoner said. “A lot of people lost faith after we blew the big lead in Game 4. But something turned us around and we just pulled together and wouldn’t let them win.”

Saugus advanced to the championship against Torrance on Saturday at Cerritos College.

Gillis--who stayed in the match after being accidentally kicked in the face by Estes when they both dived for a ball--had 15 kills.