SANTA CLARITA — Tough float serves and a big right side attack powered Saugus’ boys volleyball team to a victory in its opener in the CIF Southern Section playoffs Wednesday.
The Centurions defeated Newbury Park in four sets, 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 29-27, in the first round of the Division 3 playoffs.
Saugus (25-10) had lost to Newbury Park (14-6) earlier in the season.
“We knew them going into this, which is always an advantage, as long as we can execute, and we did,” Saugus coach Amy Suppes said. “That’s really the bottom line, these guys went out there. They were a little nervous and shaky, you could tell, but they worked through it, and truly that could have gone either way. They persevered and pulled it out.”
A consistent piece for Saugus was opposite hitter Josh Lane, whose dominant swing on the right side provided 23 kills and he had two blocks. Lane was also one of six Centurions with an ace.
“Josh did what Josh does is how I’ll say that,” Suppes said. “He did exactly what we expect him to do, which is amazing, and I’m really glad he showed up.”
Saugus clawed back early to take set one. It survived an 8-0 run by Newbury Park to win set two. It then closed out the match in an exciting deuce finish in the fourth set.
The Centurions battled against set point numerous times but kept finding answers before a kill followed by a match-point block from freshman outside Ian Mallari ended the night.
Suppes was proud of the freshman and was quick to shout out serving specialist Quinten Choe.
“I want to highlight Quinton Cho who came in and served as well as he did,” said Suppes, who added that “… he hasn’t really come in all season, but he’s been serving like crazy in practice, so we decided to throw him into the fire, and he did so well.
“And then the other guy that I want to highlight is Ian Mallari. He’s our freshman outside. He needed a minute to get his confidence, but once he did, it was game over.”
Newbury Park started off the game with its best offensive set of the night. The Panthers totaled 15 kills while also getting hands on a majority of the Centurion attacks. But Saugus kept its composure and the lead.
Mallari had a second-touch deep tip that found the Panthers’ open court for set point before à hitting error gave Saugus the set.
Most of the Panthers added multiple kills in set one aside from outside Ryker Daniels. After just one kill in set one, Daniels finished the night with 20 kills, including eight kills in set four.
Mallari and fellow Saugus outside Ryan Johnson caught fire in the fourth set while Lane was the focus for Newbury Park. Mallari added four of his 10 kills in the set while Johnson added five of his eight.
Newbury Park nearly stole set two despite being down big early. An 8-0 run, fueled by plenty of Centurion errors, sparked the Panthers, who went ahead 22-21.
Saugus recovered and back-to-back kills from Lane ended the set 25-23.
Saugus fell to Newbury Park earlier in the season in straight sets, but Suppes said the Centurions have grown significantly stronger since that match.
“The biggest difference is the belief that they could actually do it, because between then and now we won the Chatsworth tournament,” Suppes said. “So I think after that was really the moment that they really started believing this was something special. I knew before that, but I think they needed some evidence. So I’m glad they got that, and they’ve just been working their tails off.”
The Centurions advance to play at Windward on Saturday.
Suppes is looking forward to watching her team try to go much deeper into the postseason.
“I want to see them keep us alive, because we’re in win-to-stay-alive season,” Suppes said. “I think they could, and it’s going to be up to them, and that’s a really good place to be. It’s well within our control.”