In Volleyball, It’s Still a Golden Age

Golden West’s Lori Daedelow, with a community college women’s volleyball state tournament most valuable player award to her credit, is on her way to see a doctor about a sore right foot.

But until Sunday, when the Rustlers swept past a tired Santa Barbara team in three games to win their seventh consecutive state title, Daedelow would have no part of doctors.

The hardest part of the tournament for Daedelow came Saturday when the Rustlers had to win twice to reach Sunday’s title match at Pasadena College.

But after resting all day Sunday, Daedelow was ready as she and her teammates capped a perfect season with a 15-5, 15-10, 15-4 victory. Santa Barbara (22-5) had already played twice Sunday while advancing through the losers’ bracket and had nothing left for Golden West.

“I refused to see a doctor,” Daedelow said, “because I knew I had to just get to 6 p.m. and [the state title] would be ours.

“I knew what [my doctor] was going to say. It might be a stress fracture. It could be many things but he would tell me to rest it four to six weeks.”

But she is also looking ahead to playing at a four-year college next year, so she made an appointment for Tuesday. “I now have plenty of time to rest,” Daedelow said.

Golden West finished 27-0 and has a 65-match winning streak that started late in the 1997 season.

Before the MVP award was announced, Golden West Coach Albert Gasparian said it had to be Daedelow, as much for her desire as her skill.

“Ninety-eight percent of the other players would not have been out there,” Gasparian said.

Julie Renfrow, Golden West’s only other starting sophomore, capped a strong season with 14 kills in the championship match, including five in the final game.

Natalie Snowden and Grace Boyd had seven kills each and Daedelow and Marissa Cothran had six kills each. Cothran also had 33 assists.

Renfrow, the Orange Empire Conference’s co-MVP this year after being limited to back-row duty last year because of a knee injury, was thrilled to be such an important part of this team.

“It’s a huge difference,” she said about her reaction to the state title this time around. “It was so much fun. We just came out and played great.”

Golden West rolled in the first game but fell behind in the second, 7-3. After a timeout in which Gasparian told his players to get a little more excited, the Rustlers started to take over again.

Golden West dominated the third game with defense, getting five points off blocks.

The Rustlers opened a 12-1 lead, then closed out the match.

“I can’t tell you how many times this year people have told me that we are not as strong as we used to be,” Gasparian said. “But this is the best team we have ever had as far as doing all the little things it takes to win a championship.”