[ad_1]
RIVERSIDE — Peter Pan seems an unusual source for a rallying cry.
-
Santiago’s Reyce Ongalibang looks to tip the ball by Woodcrest Christian’s Cody Allen during their CIF Southern Section Division 4 boys volleyball second-round playoff match in Riverside CA on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Santiago won the match two games to one. (James Quigg, Contributing Photographer)
1 of 19
Santiago’s Reyce Ongalibang looks to tip the ball by Woodcrest Christian’s Cody Allen during their CIF Southern Section Division 4 boys volleyball second-round playoff match in Riverside CA on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Santiago won the match two games to one. (James Quigg, Contributing Photographer)
But when things aren’t going well for the Santiago boys volleyball team, the Sharks remind themselves of “faith, trust and pixie dust.”
“I came up with it my freshman year,” senior middle blocker Pierce Willardson explained. “It mixes humor and core principles of volleyball. And it’s stuck over the years.”
Santiago saw big leads slipping away during the third and fourth sets Saturday, but the Sharks recovered in time and pulled out a 19-25, 25-16, 28-26, 25-21 victory over top-seeded Woodcrest Christian in a CIF Southern Section Division 4 second-round match. It is the second straight match Santiago has rallied after dropping the first set.
After opening the postseason with back-to-back road matches, No. 17-seeded Santiago (22-8) hosts No. 8 Westlake (19-9) in a quarterfinal match Wednesday evening,
“That crisis of confidence begins creeping in when teams go on runs like that. I keep reminding them to have faith in themselves,” Santiago coach Courtney Krueger said. “We run high-pressure drills during practice all the time to prepare for these moments. … And we always go back to ‘faith, trust and pixie dust.’ They just stayed resilient.”
The opening set featured a handful of early lead changes, but Woodcrest Christian took a 17-16 lead after an ace by junior setter Kai Higa. The Royals (20-4) continued to extend the lead, reaching set point following back-to-back combo blocks by Higa and Cody Allen. Judah Deleon closed it out with Woodcrest’s third ace of the frame.
Santiago had a rough start offensively. The Sharks tallied four more kills than their opponent during the opening set but also racked up 10 attacking errors along the way. However, Kingston Foote was a bright spot for Santiago early. The junior middle blocker recorded four kills and no errors on six attacks and also had two block assists.
The script flipped during the second set, as Woodcrest registered 12 attacking errors. Willardson played a factor in that number, as he had four block assists in the frame.
The third set featured wild swings of momentum, forcing both coaches to burn timeouts rather early. Spencer Tran had three kills, and Carson Chambers had a solo block and block assist to highlight the 10-3 run that give Santiago an 18-12 advantage. Woodcrest rallied and cut that deficit to 19-18, but Santiago reached set point at 24-19.
And that’s when the Sharks faced their first pressure test. Woodcrest staved off five set points and tied things at 24. The teams traded the next few points, and Santiago eventually prevailed when Willardson and Reyce Ongalibang delivered back-to-back kills. Micah Pool registered eight kills in that set to keep Woodcrest’s chances alive.
Santiago used an 8-1 run to extend its lead to 17-9 in the fourth. Logan Chambers had three kills in that stretch and combined with Willardson for a block to cap the run.
Pool nearly brought Woodcrest all the way back. He recorded eight more kills in the fourth set and also served up three aces to help the Royals trim the deficit to 19-17. Ongalibang had back-to-back kills to help Santiago regain control, but Woodcrest answered with three straight points (including two aces by Deleon) to get within 22-21.
“Our guys really ground their way back those final two sets,” Woodcrest coach Andy Pool said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the effort and the fight our players showed.”
Ongabaling continued to have the hot hand late for Santiago. He added two more kills to get the Sharks to match point, and Logan Chambers delivered the winning kill.
“Teams are going to make big plays,” setter Carson Chambers said. “But we can’t let those moments defeat us. We were able to reset ourselves in those key moments.”
Carson Chambers finished the match with 37 assists and guided the offense to a .524 attacking percentage in that final set. Ongalibang had 16 kills to lead the way for the Sharks, while Logan Chambers overcame a slow start to finish with 10 kills.
Micah Pool finished with a match-high 25 kills, more than half of Woodcrest’s final total Saturday night. Higa registered 36 assists for the Royals.
Originally Published:
[ad_2]
Source link