Royal Flush With First-Round Success

As first-round matches go, Royal High would have preferred to play just about anybody. With the exception of Mater Dei. And San Marcos, perhaps.

But Royal, ranked No. 5 in the Southern Section Division I-A girls’ volleyball poll, found itself opening against Buena, which could be found exactly one spot below the Highlanders in the poll, resting comfortably at No. 6.

The result was predictable, a hard-fought 15-12, 12-15, 15-7, 15-11 victory Tuesday night for Royal.

“I’d rather lose to a good team in the first round than have defeated a team that’s bad,” said Coach Bob Ferguson of Royal. “Sometimes the first two rounds of playoffs aren’t good.”

Royal (22-8) rolled through several teams on the way to the I-A championship last season. This team has needed more time to find its niche.

Royal has been juggling players for the last several weeks because of injuries and ineffectiveness, a trend that continued against Buena.

Royal started without setter Michaela Skelly, who has been suffering from flu-like symptoms and was replaced by junior Jessica Rindels. But Skelly entered the match a few minutes into the first game.

The desired result may have finally arrived in the fourth game, with the Highlanders trailing, 8-1.

Thanks to four kills from Tanya Grover, and two late kills and a block by Amanda Kiser, the Highlanders scored 14 of the final 17 points.

“Earlier in the season, we got a little nervous [in this situation],” said Kiser, who finished with 10 kills. “We didn’t even worry about it [Tuesday].”

Royal finished second to Westlake in the Marmonte League and Buena finished third in the Channel League, behind San Marcos and Santa Barbara, two of the top teams in the Southern Section.

Royal was so preoccupied with outside hitter Krystal McFarland of Buena that assistant coach Danny Rizzo, who played at Royal and Pierce College, was assigned the role of McFarland during practice Monday.

“We wanted our blockers up where McFarland was at all times,” Ferguson said.

McFarland, who is taking an official visit to UCLA on Friday, had 21 kills, eight in the final game.

What began as a wild season for Buena (11-8)--a five-game loss to Westlake--ended in similar fashion, with an up-and-down performance.

The Bulldogs overcame an 8-0 deficit to win the second game, but couldn’t hold on in the fourth game.

“It’s been a crazy season,” said Coach Jack Richards of Buena.

Andreja Balach and Grover each had 11 kills for Royal, which plays El Dorado in the second round Thursday at a site to be determined.