Westlake girls’ volleyball team slips past game Santa Barbara squad

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SURVIVE AND ADVANCE—Westlake’s Alex Johnson’s 27 kills helped lead the Warriors over Santa Barbara Tuesday night. It might have only been a firstround playoff game, but it sure didn’t feel like one Tuesday night as two long-established and wellrespected volleyball programs did battle in Westlake Village.

In the only pairing of two ranked teams in the first round of the Division II-AA playoffs, the Warriors were able to stave off the visiting Santa Barbara Dons in four tightly-contested games, 2523, 28-26, 23-25 and 25-21.

Though the two teams traded scores throughout most of the match, Westlake ultimately prevailed by winning nearly all of what head coach Ernest Rittenhouse called “key points,” deciding moments in the contest where the result could have gone either way with one miscue.

“We stress that it’s those moments in a match where we have to keep our concentration,” Rittenhouse said.

“When you win those points, it’s a huge confidence builder. Plus, in close matches like this one—and we’ve played in a lot of them—it’s those points that make the difference between who wins and who doesn’t,” the coach said.

The majority of those moments came late in the high-intensity second game, as Westlake twice fought off Santa Barbara game points, down 23-24 and 2526, battling back to win in thrilling fashion, 28-26.

As has been the case all season long, when the Warriors needed crucial points they looked to outside hitter and co-captain Alex Johnson. The junior finished the victory with a match-high 27 kills, frustrating the Dons from start to finish with her perfectly placed power plays at the net.

“She was very solid, very consistent throughout,” Rittenhouse said. “She’s just a tremendous athlete and volleyball player.”

Johnson, like the rest of her teammates, had never faced the Dons, and was forced to figure out how to beat them on the fly.

“After the first game I really started to observe where their weaknesses were and I just hit right at them, whether it was down the line or cross court,” Johnson said. “It was a great win. They definitely made us earn it.”

Westlake’s other primary weapon, fellow junior Jillian Lane, bounced back from a slow start to record 17 kills, and more importantly, a team-high 16 digs. Junior setter Cathy Quilico contributed 44 assists and two of the teams’ six serving aces.

The victory lands the Warriors in a second-round matchup today against Valencia, which advanced by defeating Mayfair in five games. The match will be played at Valencia.

Rittenhouse, in his secondyear at Westlake, said the team has some areas to work on if they hope to remain alive in a talentpacked playoff bracket.

“We can serve better. We didn’t pass as well as we could have, just a few small things,” Rittenhouse said. “Tonight, we hit our way out of trouble. We can’t keep doing that and keep winning.”

If the Warriors (21-4) win tonight against Valencia, they earn the right to play No. 1 seeded Mira Costa, which Rittenhouse called, “the best (high school) team in the nation.”

“It’s a tough road for us,” he said, “no doubt about it.”