In front of a ruckus crowd Thursday night, the Sobrato volleyball team closed out its regular season home schedule with senior night.
The Bulldogs bade farewell to seven girls who will be graduating at the end of the school year with some heart-felt words from their teammates.
And Sobrato parleyed the emotion of the night into an exciting battle with undefeated Prospect, but ultimately the Panthers proved to be too much.
The Bulldogs fell in straight sets 25-22, 25-23, 25-21.
Coach Julia Brewer said the excitement may have overwhelmed her girls at times, but she was still proud of the effort.
“The energy was phenominal tonight and the girls fed off of it. Sometimes they got a little overwhelmed, but it’s OK, they brought it back,” Brewer said.
The Bulldogs took Prospect to the limit in all three sets, holding a tie at 20-all in two out of three sets and trailed by one at 24-23 in the second game.
“It was hard-fought the whole entire game. It was just the errors. I feel like they let the atmosphere get to them to where they almost got too overwhelmed,” Brewer said. “But it was a good game and props to Prospect.”
But a couple of injuries before and during the match didn’t help things against a stout Prospect team.
Jenna Fields—who led the team with six kills and provided some momentum-shifting attacks—had to leave the third game when she game down awkwardly on her leg.
In her final match in front of a home crowd, Taylor Tran came away with 40 digs with Mackenzie Turnipseed adding three blocks, 11 digs and two aces.
The efforts helped to propel Sobrato to early leads and late surges, but in the middle of each game, Prospect did what it needed to take the match.
In Game 1, Fields recorded a big kill to put Sobrato up 9-8 early, but Prospect followed with a 4-0 run to take control.
Sobrato battled back to tie the game at 15, but a short run put the Pnathers up 18-15 before a kill and an ace from Fields evened the contest at 20.
Ultimately, despite a kill from Hailey Jones and Naya Ivery to keep things close, Prospect closed out the set on a 5-2 run to close things out.
In the second set, Sobrato managed to limit Porpsects scoring runs to eventually take a 17-13 lead.
The Bulldogs got an ace from Turnispeed, a kill from Jessica Byrum and two kills from Fields for the early lead that helped the Bulldogs survive two four-point runs.
However, unforced errors coast the Bulldogs and allowed Prospect to ride a 9-1 scoring run to take a four-point lead.
Sobrto didn’t go down quietly, as the Bulldogs went on a 5-2 scoring run to nearly steal a game.
But a service error denied the Bulldogs to go further.
In the third set, it looked like Prospect was going to send things quickly.
After Sobrato went up 10-5 to start things off, Prospect rattled off a 10-2 scoring run to take the lead.
Sobrato initially got off the ropes, scoring a 6-2 run of its own to take an 18-17 lead, but the end of the set was all Prospect.
An 8-3 scoring run finally put the match to bed.
Sobrato will next hit the road for a pair of games to officially close out the regular season.
The Bulldogs will likely finish in third place in the Santa Teresa Division, with puts the likelihood of a playoff berth even less likely.
Sobrato, which sits at 12-6 overall, has a chance to finish with 14 wins, but is having to look up at several teams that play in tougher leagues who are garnering more playoff points as a result.
If the Bulldogs do squeak in, they will likely have to hit the road against a high seed.
Before the game, the seniors were treated to kind words from their teammates as well as photos with their parents. Afterward, coach Brewer made sure to get a team photo and a picture with the seniors.
“It’s going to be very hard losing them. It’s been my first season coaching and I’ve gotten close with them,” Brewer said. “It’s been a hard fought season. I’m proud of them and I’m ready to see where they go in college.”
