CYPRESS — Tears were abundant and the mood was somber for the Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls’ volleyball players.
The Guards had reason to be emotional after falling, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23, to Upland Christian Academy Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Division VA championship at Cypress College.
It was the program’s first CIF title contest, as Bell-Jeff hadn’t even gotten past the quarterfinals until this season.
Although the Guards might have been disappointed with the outcome against top-seeded Upland Christian, they had nothing to be ashamed of with their performance and effort.
Bell-Jeff stayed with the Eagles in the three games, and held leads midway through all three. Upland Christian just had more firepower than the Guards.
“We battled, and we never gave up,” Bell-Jeff Coach Miguel Segura said. “We never gave in and we were able to keep the scores close. But give credit to them; they have two great middles and they are a very good team.”
As well as the Guards (19-9) played at times against the Eagles (25-3-1), Segura said his team also experienced some problems.
“We just didn’t pass well at all,” he said. “My best passer was having some problems, and I don’t know why that was happening. In a big game like this, your passing has to be good.”
Those passing woes came back to haunt Bell-Jeff in the second game.
The Guards opened the game on a 7-2 run and appeared to take control of the match. Fine play by sophomore opposite hitter Breanna Pedron, sophomore outside hitter Jocelyn Cervantes and sophomore defensive specialist Taryn Nelson, helped Bell-Jeff increase its advantage to 15-4.
But then the momentum shifted — big time.
With Eagles’ senior outside hitter Karina Urena serving, they embarked on a monumental 12-0 run to take a 16-15 lead.
The run was finally detailed by an Upland Christian hitting error.
“In that second game, our passing just fell apart,” Segura said.
The Guards didn’t give in, however. They battled back, took the lead back and jumped out to a 20-17 advantage. Bell-Jeff maintained the lead late, but the Eagles remained just a point or two off the pace.
Bell-Jeff held off the Eagles and was two points away from winning the second game, 23-22. But a kill by senior middle blocker Danielle Maxwell and an ace by senior defensive specialist Nicole McEachron have Upland Christian a 24-23 advantage.
