Vincent Memorial gets CIF win
CALEXICO — In its short six-year history, the boys’ volleyball team from Vincent Memorial Catholic High School has made a handful of appearances in the playoffs.
In their inaugural season, the Scots advanced to the CIFSan Diego Section playoffs and earned a win in the first round of the tourney.
Since the then, the Scots have struggled with first-round opponents and were hoping this was not the case when they hosted High Tech San Diego on Tuesday night.
The teams were playing in the first round of the CIF-SDS Div. IV playoffs with the Scots earning the home game as the No. 5 seed to the Storms’ No. 11.
With a team full of energetic seniors, the Scots took to the court and swept High Tech winning 25-16, 25-14 and 2518.
“This year I think they just wanted it more,” said Scots head coach Gerardo Casarez of the win. “All of the starters are seniors and they really want to make it to the next stage of the playoffs.”
Both teams struggled a bit in the opening moments of the game exchanging serves that went out-of-bounds or into the net. Yet the Scots’ Esteban Roberts was able to settle down at the service line and give his team an 8-3 lead that caused High Tech to take a time out.
“We actually struggle a bit with serves, usually in the first game,” Casarez said “We don’t get it going until about the second or third game, so it was good to see them come out the way they did.”
The Scots used Roberts’ momentum to power through the rest of the game, yet hit a slight bump in the second set.
The Storm jumped to a 4-0 run with strong serving of their own, yet after relenting the ball to the Scots on an error, were met with Andres Gallego at the service line for Vincent Memorial.
Gallego quickly tied the game and eventually gave the Scots the lead and the energy they need to push through the second set.
“It’s experience,” said Casarez of his team’s effort to come back from the 0-4 deficit. “They play well together. They’re like a family. They know each other as players.”
In the final game the Storm were better able to figure out the Scots’ servers and hitters making for a closer game with exciting rallies for the high-spirited home crowd.
While it took a little longer for the Scots to earn the win, they were still able to do so to win their second first-round playoff game in school history.
With the win, the Scots advance to Friday’s quarterfinal, where they will travel to face No. 3 O’Farrell Academy.
“O’Farrell and High Tech (San Diego) played twice this year and went to five games both times, so it’ll be a good game,” Casarez said. “I’m looking for the same intensity as (Tuesday) and I think they’ll be ready to go.”