PREP ROUNDUP : Capistrano Valley Rallies to Win

After Capistrano Valley lost the first two games of its playoff match against Esperanza, only one thought raced through the mind of Cougar Coach John Gipe.

“This team never does anything easy,” Gipe said.

Although the Cougars lost 12 consecutive points to lose Game 2, Capistrano Valley rebounded to post a five-game victory, 3-15, 12-15, 15-13, 15-9, 15-13, in a Southern Section Division I wild-card match Tuesday over host Esperanza.

The Cougars (8-7) advanced to Thursday’s first round to play at top-seeded Newport Harbor, the No. 1-ranked team in the state.

Katie Wilson, Christine Thuerbach and Nikole Modhorst stepped up to make the big plays for Capistrano Valley in the decisive game.

Wilson had six kills and three blocks in Game 5, and her 14th kill of the match gave the Cougars a 14-13 lead. Then, Esperanza’s Kristy Kierulff, who had a match-high 20 kills, hit a spike wide to end the match.

With Wilson providing the offense, Thuerbach and Modhorst made the big defensive plays in Game 5. Modhorst had five digs in the game and Thuerbach, who also had 12 kills, had six digs.

Thuerbach started in place of Suzanne Shaw, who played sparingly because of an ankle injury.

“Christine played phenomenal tonight,” Gipe said. “We knew Esperanza could come out hot, so we just had to ride it out.”

Sophomore Amy Nihipali had 10 kills and nine blocks for Esperanza (7-8), which was within two points of winning the match when it was tied, 13-13, in Game 3. But a kill from Thuerbach and another from Keri Gallup gave the Cougars a 15-13 victory in Game 3 and the rally was under way.