Saugus Latest Victim of Thousand Oaks

Thousand Oaks High continued its unexpected playoff success with a 2-15, 15-5, 15-6, 15-12 defeat of Saugus (12-5) in a Division I-A girls’ quarterfinal Saturday night at Saugus High.

But don’t tell Lancers Coach Robert Haar that his team, once written off as dead, is truly reborn.

“For us, the resurrection is not complete until we are truly finished, be that in the semis or the finals,” he said.

Thousand Oaks (11-7), moves to the semifinals Tuesday night against Capistrano Valley, which defeated Corona Centennial, 15-3, 15-6, 15-1.

The Lancers struggled to an 8-7 regular-season record and lost hitter Jenn Detmer to mononucleosis for nearly six weeks. No one thought they’d still be in it.

“We didn’t expect to be here,” Haar said. “We really had to readjust when we made playoffs.”

Consider the adjustments a success. Although the Lancers were overpowered in the first game, they put it together in the second when Detmer came alive. She finished with 20 kills and seven blocks.

“I think once Jenn started showing her stuff, it was a little frightening,” Saugus Coach Bobbie Estes said. “She was certainly impressive.”

After dropping games two and three, the Centurions regrouped in the fourth with solid defense, including a marathon rally that ended when a Detmer block attempt was called wide.

A profane exclamation by Detmer earned her a red card and gave Saugus a point to tie the score, 4-4.

Haar protested the call, halting play for several minutes. When the discussion ended, so had Saugus’ momentum as Thousand Oaks went on to win, 15-12.

“I was angry with the call [because] the ball was definitely in,” Detmer said. “But hey, it fired me up. I was ready to go out there and pound the ball.”

Lauren McCartin had 15 kills for Saugus, while Erika Lilley had 33 assists. For Thousand Oaks, Deja Robb had 12 kills and Shelly Payne had 36 assists.

Estes said the red-card controversy in the fourth game took her team completely out of its groove.

“If (the discussion) had been over in a minute, then great, we would have been pumped up,” she said. “But it went on and on.”