A month later, after all the dust settled, after all the titles won and awards were handed out, no one from La Cañada was able to figure out how they beat Troy.
“After that match, [senior libero] Tara [Rallis and I] looked at each other and asked, ‘How did we do that?’” said McCutchan, who still doesn’t have an answer. “They had everything going for them, they got everything up, it was ridiculous. And they wanted it so bad.”
In November, La Cañada hosted Troy in a CIF Southern Section Division II-A semifinal. Troy, which had lost to La Cañada in the semifinals the year before and returned nearly every player, took the first game with surprising ease. La Cañada took the second game and eked out a win in the third. Troy took the fourth to tie the match, forcing a fifth and final frame.