Estancia girls’ volleyball compiles 20 aces in win over Santa Paula
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Navigating drastic swings in momentum compelled Chase Frishman, the first-year coach of Estancia High’s girls’ volleyball program, to describe the season as a “roller coaster.”
The ride will continue, thanks in no small part to their service exploits, especially those provided in the latter half of Wednesday’s match against Santa Paula by Makayla RuoRock.
RuoRock presided over a pair of long serving runs at the start of the third and fourth sets, helping the Eagles finish off Santa Paula 25-16, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19 in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 9 playoffs at home.
“We’re used to riding the momentum,” Frishman said. “I think our girls have gotten better at late-game situations, clutching up a little bit, making some plays, and dispatching of opponents and taking them out before they can have the chance to stick around long enough to get us.
“A lot of credit to Makayla RuoRock, who all year has been in and out of the lineup, more of a secondary setter, but she absolutely starred tonight. That, to me, is super inspiring, when someone can be such a good teammate all through the year, have their number called and just shine bright like a diamond.”
Frishman borrowed the line from Rihanna’s song “Diamonds,” admitting he did not remember whose words they were but singing the lyrics, “Shine bright like a diamond,” thereafter.
It’s been that kind of year for the Eagles, who have had a lot of fun along the way. After falling a set short of winning the program’s first league championship in a five-set defeat at Westminster La Quinta last season, Estancia (15-8, 9-3 in league) got over the hump in winning the Coast League by one game over Rancho Alamitos (18-7, 8-4).
“Since the beginning of the season, our goal for the program was to just win a round of CIF, because no one on the team had [won a postseason match],” said senior outside hitter and team captain Abby McIntyre. “It’s a great experience. There’s so many young players on our team [and] they’re now going to understand the effort it takes to get here. Hopefully, in later years, they can bring the program even further.”
McIntyre had a game-high 11 kills. Sophomore opposite Emma Tchulluian added nine kills and three aces, while junior middle blocker Nia Booze produced five aces, two kills and a block assist.
RuoRock, a sophomore setter, had 13 assists, seven aces and a kill, all coming after the second set. When she went to the service line to begin the third set, she had three aces as the Eagles rattled off eight points in a row to take a 9-1 lead.
“As a setter, I usually get to start the game in service, so I feel like it’s really important to set the tone,” RuoRock said. “That’s really what I wanted to do, and that’s what I did.”
Estancia held a 21-13 advantage later in the set, matching its biggest lead of the game, but it nearly collapsed. Three hitting errors, another in service, and a poor pass helped Santa Paula (11-11) get back into the game, but a set-ending hitting error by Ariana Jordan (five kills, three aces, one block assist) let the Eagles escape.
RuoRock outdid herself with the next opportunity, supplying four aces as Estancia took a 10-0 lead at the outset of the fourth set.
“That was insane,” McIntyre said. “I didn’t even realize. It was just like, ‘Oh, Makayla is just serving again.’ And then I looked at the score, and they hadn’t scored a single point, and we were already in the double digits.”
Maybe McIntyre should have seen it coming.
“Makayla in the huddle, she literally said, ‘I’m going to do it again, but let’s not let them come back like last time,’” Frishman said. “She had some kind of sparkling magic powers tonight.”
The Eagles had 20 aces in all, with junior middle blocker Christina Rodriguez, senior outside hitter Jackie Barrios, freshman setter Alana Fatzinger, freshman outside hitter Stella Shandalove and McIntyre each providing one.
Up next, Estancia travels to third-seeded Ojai Nordhoff (14-8), a Citrus Coast League co-champion, on Saturday.
Emma Campbell-Luna had 10 assists, five aces, three kills and a block assist to lead Santa Paula. Madilyn Stonebraker also had six kills, three aces and 2½ blocks.
Also in the CIF Southern Section girls’ volleyball playoffs:
Manhattan Beach Mira Costa 3, Newport Harbor 0: Senior outside hitter Audrey Flanagan had 15 kills and five aces, as the fifth-seeded Mustangs swept the Sailors 25-15, 25-23, 25-22 on Wednesday in the opening match of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
Mira Costa (24-9), which shared the Bay League crown with Redondo Union, will visit Los Angeles Marymount (36-5) on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
Newport Harbor (25-9) finished second in the Sunset League this season.
Thousand Oaks 3, Sage Hill 1: Sophomore outside hitter Addison Uphoff had 20 kills, but the Lightning suffered a 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-16 loss on Tuesday in a Division 2 playoff opener on the road.
Sophomore outside hitter Eve Fowler added 19 kills for Sage Hill (20-12), which was the second-place finisher in the Pacific Coast League this season behind Rosary.
Senior setter Amber Wang also contributed 48 assists and two kills for the Lightning.
Sage Hill coach Dan Thomassen said the Division 2 placement was the highest designation the program has received in postseason play.
Third-seeded Thousand Oaks (30-4), which shared the Marmonte League crown with Westlake Village Oaks Christian, drew a second-round home match against JSerra (17-14) on Thursday.
Marina 3, Cerritos Valley Christian 1: Junior outside hitter Korynn Mayo had 14 kills and 32 digs, leading the visiting Vikings to an upset of the second-seeded Defenders 17-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-18 on Tuesday in the first round of the Division 2 bracket.
Sophomore libero Rylee Hartwell added 29 digs for Marina (20-12), which placed third in the Sunset League.
Valley Christian (24-3) was the Olympic League champion.
The Vikings earned a home match against Orange Lutheran (25-10) on Thursday. At-large qualifiers out of the Trinity League, the Lancers swept Crestview League co-champion Sunny Hills in their opener.
Pacifica Christian 3, Palmdale Highland 0: Junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Woods had seven kills and 10 blocks, as the host Tritons earned a 25-15, 25-20, 25-18 sweep on Wednesday in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.
Senior setter Addie Roberson dished out 18 assists to go with five aces for Pacifica Christian (13-9), which advanced to a road match at Mid-Cities League champion Cerritos Gahr on Saturday.
Senior pin hitter Sophia Bone added six kills, and senior libero Emery Heal provided 11 digs on defense.
Riverside Norte Vista 3, Ocean View 1: Senior middle blocker Charlotte Johnson produced 21 kills and six blocks for the host Seahawks in a 25-22, 25-20, 14-25, 25-16 defeat on Tuesday in the opening round of the Division 6 playoffs.
Ocean View (26-7-1) went undefeated in the Orange Coast League to capture its third league championship in the past four seasons.
River Valley League champion Norte Vista (21-3) advanced to a road match at Capistrano Valley Christian (8-20-1) on Thursday.
Avalon 3, Los Amigos 0: The host Lobos suffered a straight-sets defeat 25-20, 25-18, 25-20 on Wednesday evening in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 9 playoffs.
Los Amigos (12-6) shared the Orange League title with Santa Ana Valley, which marked the first league championship for the Lobos since 1983.
“We had two goals at the beginning of this year, which was to be league champs and to go to CIF,” Los Amigos coach Valerie Herndon said. “These girls did that, and they did something that nobody has done in 42 years, so I think that’s a pretty amazing accomplishment.
“They’re just a special group of girls, and all of my coaching staff, they’re all just really great. They’re alumni, and they’ve done a really, really great job, so we’re really proud of the program.”
Avalon (14-17) will play host to Tarbut V’Torah (8-9) on Monday.
