Volleyball - CIF Sac-Joaquin

Seeded seventh in the Division 2 volleyball playoff bracket, no one expected Woodcreek (23-12) to make the championship game, except perhaps Woodcreek.

In Saturday’s championship match against top-seeded Granite Bay (28-9), Woodcreek came out and played like the No. 1 seed, handing it to the Grizzlies and doing so impressively, winning the first two games 25-21 and 25-15. The Grizzlies seemed like they were at a loss as Scott Chance and Kashton Claiborne reigned down blow after blow on them offensively, on sets from Levi Black and Jacob Smith, while the back row routinely made more than enough digs to keep the team in front.

<div id="mts_ad_1778522671589" class="borderedAd" style="width: 900px; float: none; margin-bottom: 20px; clear: both; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-size: auto; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: padding-box; background-clip: border-box; padding: 20px 0px; text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Fort, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> As it so often happens in volleyball, something changed between the second and third games. While Woodcreek didn’t play quite as well as it had in the first two games, the Granite Bay Grizzlies seemed to pick up their play and once they got the momentum, there was no turning back. The Grizzlies won the last three games 25-17, 25-19 and 15-12 to win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 championship.

Junior Davison Gotwals was the Grizzlies top hitter throughout the match, and the team went to him in the fifth game and he delivered with four kills and a block for another point to lead the way. The Grizzlies, however, had more than Gotwals. Sophomore Owen Tanner had three kills in the deciding game and junior Colin Richardson had two kills and also served the match-deciding ace. All three are underclassmen.

“It was a great match; so fun and so exciting,” Granite Bay coach Emilie Taylor said. “It’s big pressure, big lights and Woodcreek is amazingly tough competition and they really kept us on our toes. I’m really proud how the boys had that little bit of ‘we’re not going to let down’ and they came back and I’m just happy it went our way. These boys really wanted it. You could hear the energy, players saying we’re not going to give up. We’re not going to die. The younger players stepped up. That’s a lot of pressure and I’m really proud of them.”

The fifth set was tied three times at one, four and nine, but Woodcreek could never get the lead. Granite Bay had three three-point leads at 4-1, 7-4 and the final score of 15-12. Every time they needed a big point, they got one.

It was a tough match to swallow for Woodcreek.

“We played well obviously in the first two sets and then we just got in our heads and we couldn’t get out of it,” Woodcreek coach Brian Jew said. “From then on we played up and down and couldn’t come out of it. Granite Bay is a good team. I’m definitely proud of how we played.”

Taylor said her team’s serve-receive game made the difference.

“Serve-receive was the difference,” Taylor said. “In the beginning we were missing serves and our serve-receive wasn’t as tight as it should have been. We went back to basics. The boys did a very good job of placing their serves and then also of playing aggressively and not letting up. Even if they missed a ball, they went back and swung even harder next time.”

Jew said before the match that his team would have to play well to win. The Timberwolves did play well, but in the end they didn’t play as well as the Grizzlies.

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Granite Bay beats Woodcreek in five to claim Division 2 section championship