PLACENTIA — The El Dorado boys volleyball team trailed by three points late in the fifth set. The team’s coach, Brit Brown, reminded her players to leave it all on the court because it could be the last time they would have the opportunity.
“I told them to play every game like it’s your last,” Brown recalled. “At this point, we’ve accomplished all our goals and every game we play could be our last, so go out there and make yourselves proud. Do your best, be proud when you walk off that court, win or lose.”
The Golden Hawks responded to their coach’s words and ended the decisive set with a 7-2 run to beat Sunny Hills, 23-25, 25-19, 16-25, 25-23, 15-13, in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs Saturday at El Dorado High.
El Dorado (28-5) will be on the road against Peninsula in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
It is the second year in a row the Golden Hawks have made it to at least the quarterfinals. Last year they lost in the Division 4 final.
“So proud of these guys, they’ve worked so hard,” Brown said. “Last year we went all the way but couldn’t quite do it. Our goal this year was to go again (to CIF finals), and they’ve just put in so much time and effort, worked so hard to get here, I’m just so proud of them.”
Max Smith led the attack with 25 kills and Trent Chaffin added 10 kills for El Dorado,
Brown also noted the contributions of Ryan Chia and Dillon Overbeck.
“Ryan and Dillon made all the difference,” Brown said. “Ryan, my setter, obviously at the net, he owned that outside, and made phenomenal hustle plays, great sets, running down balls and running back and blocking someone and shutting them down.”
Chia finished with a team-high 12 blocks and 17 digs and two aces while Overbeck had 22 digs.
“Dillon, my opposite and captain, was just phenomenal. He would not let a ball land,” Brown said. “On one timeout, I told him, you just talk to your team, tell them, because he’s the heart of the team and wants it more than anyone and puts it out on the court every time.”
That was evident when Overbeck took an inadvertent ball to the face from Sunny Hill’s Ryan Mesnik after El Dorado got match point from a block at the net by Chia and Adam Cralley that caused double contact by Sunny Hills middle hitter Matthew Barta.
Barta kept the ball alive but the officials made their call. As the El Dorado players stormed the court to celebrate, Mesnik, who is Overebeck’s club teammate, swung at the ball and it hit Overbeck square in the face.
Overbeck needed a moment before finally getting off the floor and the teams exchanged handshakes at midcourt with no incident.
“They are actually friends and they’ve played together in club,” Brown said of Overbeck and Mesnik, “It could’ve been frustration from losing, but he was not trying to hit him, he just hit the ball with no direction.”
Mesnik finished with 15 kills.
Sunny Hills coach Albert Soliguen, who led the Lancers (24-8) to a CIF championship in 2022, was proud of his team’s effort but pointed out some things that made a difference.
“In those final moments, I saw my guys step up and put us in a position to win, but in the end we couldn’t connect and finish the game,” he said. “It’s a tough loss to swallow because we want another shot at a title, but I’m not upset at my guys with how they performed.”
