GLENDALE — For the first time in four seasons, the Flintridge Prep girls’ volleyball team made it to the CIF postseason.
The stay was a short one, however, but still not enough to diminish the journey in getting there.
“For us to make it back to the playoffs ... I think was a huge success,” said Rebels Coach Sean Beattie after his team fell to host Ocean View, 22-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-23, on Tuesday night in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3-A playoffs. “Right now, it’s kind of bittersweet.”
The Rebels’ offensive effort was led by two of their four departing seniors, Morgan Brown, who had 11 kills, and Marin Seifert, who had nine.
Flintridge Prep (11-9), the fourth-place finisher from the Prep League and the sixth-ranked team in the division before the playoffs, came back from a 17-9 deficit, according to Beattie, in the first game, but it was an early 6-0 hole in the second game that proved to be the turning point of the match.
“We actually, in the second game, started out really slow,” said Beattie, whose squad kept the second game even the rest of the way through, but was never able to make a run good enough to overcome the six-point deficit. “We never really recovered from that.
“Once you go down that big and just play back and forth, you can’t come back.”
The third game was decided by four- and five-point runs that pushed Ocean View (11-8), the Golden West League champion, ahead.
In the fourth and final game, Prep waged a see-saw battle, but ultimately went down swinging.
“It was one of those matches where whoever’s hot was hot,” Beattie said. “The last game was a battle all the way through. In the end, we just came up a touch short.”
Juniors Tori Glebocki and Charlotte Kay had 23 and 15 digs, respectively, while junior Emani Holyfield, who was battling illness, added four blocks. Junior Casey Meurer had 30 assists.
“[The seniors’] hard work and dedication for four years really paid off,” Beattie said, “it’s just unfortunate we couldn’t make it past the first round.”