D’backs advance to second round

PHELAN • The Serran volleyball team got a scare but defeated Saugus 25-18, 25-21, 21-25 and 32-30 in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division I-A playoffs on Tuesday.

The Mojave River League-champion Diamondbacks easily took the two first sets, but the Centurions came back to take the third.
“We lost a little bit of momentum,” Serrano coach Tracy Talbott said. “We got a little complacent.”

Serrano gave up four points on errors early in the set as the Centurions went ahead 7-2. D’backs weren’t getting clear hits on balls as they struggled on defense.

Saugus also went on to take an early 13-11 lead in the fourth set, but the D’backs (19-8-1) showed resiliency from there.

Starting with a block by Amanda Rifino and Stephanie Espey, they scored six straight points to get ahead.

In the set, the D’backs started digging the ball more consistently, which helped the setter connect better with the hitters.

“It’s all about defense,” Talbott said. “We were making some errors on our side. As soon as we started fixing the errors and started settling down, (we) started playing (our) game.”

The Centurions didn’t give up and tied the game at 24 to extend the set. Serrano took a 31-30 lead on junior Delainey Aigner-
Swesey’s kill, and the match came to an end when Saugus outside hitter Katie Estes’ spike went out of bounds.

“We had to get in each other’s head that we can do it,” Serrano senior Chelsey Sanderson said.

Sanderson tallied 15 kills, 11 blocks and 18 digs, while Aigner-Swesey had 23 kills and 19 digs. Junior Madison Ekis added 11 kills, and Taeler Davis finished with 48 assists for the D’backs.

“I just want to get points for the team to win,” said Aigner-Swesey, who led the team in kills.

Serrano will play the winner of El Dorado and Buena in the second round on Thursday.

If El Dorado advances to the second round, there will be a coin toss to decide the host, whereas Buena would automatically get home-court advantage.

Talbott said her team is likely to face El Dorado, the Century League champion.

“We played (El Dorado) two years ago in CIF,” she said. “They took us out in the first round. They are very strong.”

Tomoya Shimura can be reached at tshimura@vvdailypress.com or 951-6281.