Hillcrest beats La Sierra, inches closer to winning River Valley League crown

RIVERSIDE >> La Sierra’s gymnasium has not always been a memorable place for the Hillcrest girls volleyball program.

Hillcrest entered Wednesday night’s River Valley League showdown having won only once in seven matches inside its rival’s gymnasium, but the Trojans avoided further disappointment and remained undefeated in league play with a 25-23, 25-19, 15-25, 25-17 victory over La Sierra.

Kaitlyn Eugene and Hanna Foldenauer tallied 15 and 12 kills, respectively, to lead Hillcrest (11-5, 7-0 in league).

“La Sierra is our rival, so there is always a lot of motivation to beat them,” Trojans junior setter Isabel Wold said. “The matches here are always intense. It can get very loud with everybody cheering, so you just have to make sure to remain focused.”

La Sierra (16-18, 5-2) raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening game, with three points coming on aces by Lizbeth Reyes. Hillcrest coach Robyn Hubbard quickly used one of her timeouts to settle her team down. The Trojans drew level at 8 and took an 11-10 lead on a kill by Sarai Williams. Eugene had six kills to help Hillcrest take that opening game.

The teams traded the lead seven time in the early stages of the second set. Foldenauer had five kills in the game to help Hillcrest open up a small lead, and the Trojans pieced together a 7-2 run down the stretch to win the set.

The third set was tied at 15, but La Sierra rattled off 10 consecutive points to win the set and extend the match. Eyleen Sanchez was on the line for the final nine points of that game and served up four aces during that closing run. Malana Owens and Makenzie Mcgregor each had three kills to lead the offensive effort for the Eagles in the third set.

La Sierra won the first two points of the fourth game, but the Eagles could not sustain the momentum. Wold served up three aces as Hillcrest pieced together a 13-2 run to regain control of the match. La Sierra did make a charge at the end but could only get within four points. Eugene, Foldenauer and Williams each had four kills in the set to lead Hillcrest.

“We put a lot of emphasis on closing,” Hubbard said. “I think it’s a big boost for them to do it inside this gym.”

La Sierra kept the scores close with its serving and finished the match with 18 aces. Sanchez had nine kills and led the Eagles with six aces. Owens also had nine kills, and Reyes added five kills and five aces.

“We went on a great run to finish the third set. It would’ve been nice to see things carry over to the next set,” La Sierra coach Lannie Maffucci said. “But that’s volleyball. Momentum can change very quickly, and Hillcrest was able to put the pressure back on us. We fell apart in serve receive and that really got us out of rhythm.”

Williams finished with seven kills for Hillcrest. Wold had a team-high five aces while also running the offense.

Hillcrest has a twogame lead on La Sierra with three league matches remaining. The Trojans will have the opportunity to clinch at least a share of their second consecutive River Valley League title when they host Patriot tonight.