Vista Murrieta (14-6): 25-27-25 = 3
Orange Lutheran (19-11): 16-25-19 = 0
It is no secret that Southwestern League girls’ volleyball teams that have had an opening round bye, struggle in their first match of the CIF-SS playoffs. Most notably, when Temecula Valley won back-to-back league titles in ‘16 and ‘17 the Lady Golden Bears struggled and were 0-2 in playoff openers. Vista Murrieta was determined not to let that happen to them at home on Saturday afternoon.
After taking set one comfortably, the Lady Broncos won a tight second set and allowed a 12-3 lead in the third to evaporate before eventually prevailing and sweeping the Orange Lutheran Lady Lancers.
In the opening set Vista Murrieta took an 8-6 lead on a kill from Madison Pulsipher. From there, they reached 12-7 on a pair of aces from Lauren Ly and a kill from Claire Little, who helped end the set with another kill that gave them a 25-16 win.
“It’s almost like being back in club season,” stated Little when asked if the noon start was weird. “We got here pretty early, stretched out, warmed up, and it was just like any other Saturday except in this case we can actually enjoy the rest of the day.”
An ace from Lily Underwood along with two kills and a block solo from Londyn Giles gave Orange Lutheran an 11-3 lead to start set two. The Lady Broncos rallied to take a lead of 16-14 on three kills from Little in a five-point span. After a Paige Buzzerio kill put the Lady Lancers up 24-23, Vista Murrieta closed the set on a 4-1 run to win 27-25 and take a 2-0 lead. Little had three kills in four points and Liliana Montes added a block solo to finish off the run.
“We had short but quality practices during the bye to get them off their feet and it worked out,” said Vista Murrieta coach Ed Taitano. “We didn’t know what this season was going to look like, but after making some additions, our practices have been really competitive. As a result, we’re better prepared for quality teams like Orange Lutheran and our tough schedule is paying off also.
A pair of aces from Little, and a Pulsipher kill, pushed the Lady Broncos to a 12-3 lead in set three. Orange Lutheran responded with a 12-3 run to tie the set at 15 on a Buzzerio kill. Giles had a pair of kills while Jazlyn Fu was in on three blocks during that stretch. After a pair of Vista Murrieta attack errors tied the set at 18, when the hometown girls closed on a 7-1 run. Little had three kills in that stretch while Skylar Darr added an ace to finish off a sweep.
“I think the week off really allowed us to get ready for every aspect of the playoffs,” Darr said. “All week we were getting really good touches and were able to really prepare for today. Our practices have been so much better since we had some players pulled up late in the season.”
Vista Murrieta advances to face either San Clemente or Cypress in a quarterfinal match Wednesday, Oct. 26. Temecula Valley also advanced to the quarterfinals after wining their Saturday contest over Rancho Cucamonga. Details on those games will be posted when available.
Derryl Trujillo can be reached by email at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
