Upland caps season with regional title win
When the Upland boys volleyball team was swept by Royal in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 championship match on May 14, it was the first time the Highlanders had lost a set in four weeks and the first time they had lost a match since March 28.
For the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs the following week, they had one focus: getting a rematch.
Upland got that rematch in the Division II SoCal Regional final Saturday at top-seeded Royal.
The rematch went much better for the Highlanders, as the secondseeded team rallied for a 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 2426, 15-13 victory to cap a 40-4 season with a regional title.
“We didn’t play well (in the first matchup),” Upland coach Scott Robertson admitted. “Once we had the bad taste out of our mouth on Tuesday (in the first state match), we were much better. I had a completely different feeling the second time. We were ready for this.”
Robertson felt the week between the CIFSS
semifinals and finals caused the pressure to build on Upland, which was the top seed in the CIF-SS playoffs.
“We had to hear how we were the first team in (Upland) volleyball history to make the finals. It had been 40 days since we lost a set,” Robertson said. “I think that put a little more pressure on us. I don’t think it was overconfidence. It was nerves and pressure.”
Even though Upland lost the first set in the rematch, Robertson felt much better than he did at the same point a week before.
“I know we lost the first set, but I felt good about where we were,” Robertson said. “Once we turned the page to the second set, we got off to a pretty good start.”
Upland was actually in position to win the match in four sets. The Highlanders got off to a quick 14-3 lead in the fourth set and later in the set had two championship points. But the set slipped away.
“We blew it and we didn’t close the set out,” Robertson said. “My concern was that we weren’t going to be able to come back from that. But we did.”
It was at that point Upland
star Jordan Lucas took over.
Lucas, who had 29 kills, 14 digs and three blocks to lead Upland, had six kills in the fifth set alone.
The win gave Upland the first volleyball regional title in school history. It was the first time all season Upland had a match go beyond three sets. Upland finished the season with a 23-1 record in best-of-five matches, all of them sweeps until the last one.
“I feel like the boys could’ve gone three or four more sets,” Robertson said. “I don’t think anybody felt tired. They should’ve been tired, but they showed no effect.”
In addition to Lucas, Isaiah Vogel had 21 kills, eight digs and three aces, Kai Vogel had 11 kills, two aces and nine digs, Cian Slade had nine kills and three blocks and Aiden DuFour had 44 assists and five digs.
“They just wanted to play volleyball and play together. It was the perfect storm. It was a special team that achieved something that was very special for them and the school and for me as well,” said Robertson who was in his first year back coaching the boys team.