Win over Oak Grove assures Bulldogs no worse than tie for West
Valley Division crown, marks first championship in school’s
three-year history
San Jose – When Laura Billos sent home the final spike on the Sobrato High girls volleyball team’s victory over Oak Grove on Tuesday, the sophomore outside hitter helped make a little school history as the Bulldogs secured the school’s first ever league championship.
Sobrato improved to 11-0 in the Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division play with the win and dropped the second-place Eagles to 8-3 in the process. That gave the Bulldogs a three-game advantage with three matches to play, assuring Sobrato no worse than a tie for the league title.
“It’s really exciting,” Billos, a co-captain, said of the team’s opportunity to call themselves league champs. “We work really hard at practice and it pays off.”
Outside hitter and co-captain Jordyn Hanne, the team’s lone senior and someone who experienced last season’s 1-14 campaign, led the team with nine kills and 20 digs and was happy to see the team reach its goal.
“At the beginning that was our goal and when you can fight this hard and accomplish your goal, that’s the most exciting thing,” Hanne said.
The Bulldogs now need only a win or an Oak Grove loss in either of the team’s remaining three games to give them sole possession of the league crown. Thursday’s results of Sobrato’s match against Yerba Buena and Oak Grove’s match against Del Mar were not available at presstime.
Tuesday’s win guaranteed that the Bulldogs will be heading to the Central Coast Section Division IV playoffs and given the strength of their schedule – they have wins over Gilroy (an “A” classification) and Andrew Hill (a “B” classification) – they should figure to net a high seed.
“They’re getting ready,” head coach Rosemary Miller said of the team’s upcoming playoff run. “They always go back to basics. I always tell them, ‘bump, set, spike.’ ”
The win against Oak Grove marked the eighth straight sweep for Sobrato, who has yet to be extended to five games in a league match this season and has appeared to get stronger each time the competition has stiffened.
“We know what we need to do,” Hanne said. “We know every team is out to get us because they have nothing to lose. We’ve just got to stay strong together.”
The biggest problem for Sobrato throughout the night appeared to be the serving of the Eagles, as they netted 16 aces.
In the first game a pair of aces trimmed the Bulldogs lead to 23-19, but two Hanne kills sandwiched around a Sobrato service error sealed a 25-20 win.
The Bulldogs took control early in the second game and had a 10-2 lead. But a 5-0 run for Oak Grove, which included four aces, put the Eagles back in the game.
Sobrato had a late 23-19 lead before back-to-back aces by Oak Grove trimmed the lead. The Bulldogs reached game point when Hanne slammed home a kill of one of Nicole Simoneau’s 16 assists and a sideout gave Sobrato a 25-22 win.
The third game was never close. The Bulldogs jumped out to leads of 11-3 and 16-6 and closed the door on the league title with a 25-11 win.
Simoneau and Ariel Mosbrucker led the team with four aces and Simoneau added 12 digs.
Junior Varsity
San Jose – Sobrato’s junior varsity team improved to 10-1 in league play with a 25-14, 23-25, 15-6 win over Oak Grove.
Kelly Kruelen led the team with seven kills and Debbie Keen had six aces.
