Early woes derail Pioneers
SANTA MONICA -- It was not a good sign that Providence High had as
many service errors as points in its first game of a boys’ volleyball
playoff match against Santa Monica St. Monica.
The Pioneers’ early woes set the tone of the first-round Division
IV contest Thursday against the host Mariners, as Providence went
down to a 15-7, 15-12, 15-6 defeat to end its season.
“I think that first game made all the difference in the match,”
Providence Coach Andrew Bencze said. “If we don’t make the seven
service errors, I think we go on to win the game, and that would have
given us the momentum to win the match.
“That was a real big blow for us, and we weren’t able to recover
from it.”
Although Bencze said the early mistakes were a factor, the coach
didn’t think playing two matches in less than 24 hours was a
detriment for his team.
“I think the fact that we won Wednesday and were playing Thursday,
we had some momentum and we were pumped up for [St. Monica],” said
Bencze, whose team defeated Thousand Oaks Hillcrest Christian on
Wednesday at Providence, 15-3, 15-7, 15-7. “We didn’t really mind
playing back to back.”
Providence (11-12) -- which finished third in the Liberty League
-- knew it would have a tough task against the undefeated Mariners,
who finished as Camino Real League champions. However, after dropping
the first game, the Pioneers showed they could play with St. Monica
(16-0) with a fine showing in the second game.
Led by senior outside hitter Ian Breckenridge-Jackson’s eight
kills in the game, the Pioneers whittled the St. Monica lead down to
13-12, before dropping the final two points.
Breckenridge-Jackson finished with 19 kills. Senior teammate
Francis Sanchez added seven kills and junior setter Danny Boucher had
27 assists.
Providence -- and especially Breckenridge-Jackson -- was
continually hounded by the Mariners’ Stacy Jefferson and Brandon
Jones at the net. Whenever the Pioneer senior went for a kill
attempt, the St. Monica duo was there to contest the shot.
Jefferson had seven blocks and eight kills and Jones had 10
kills.
“We tried to switch some things around with Ian,” Bencze said.
“But [St. Monica] did a good job at adjusting.”