The impassioned play that had lifted Sobrato boys volleyball to
the biggest of turnarounds this spring was at its height Tuesday
for the program’s first Central Coast Section playoff
MORGAN HILL
The passionate play that has lifted Sobrato boys volleyball to the biggest of turnarounds this spring was at its height Tuesday for the program’s first Central Coast Section playoff.
There was Estevan Santiago screaming at the net in Game 3 after scoring one of his team-high 12 kills, helping the ninth-seeded Bulldogs overcome a 21-16 deficit. There was Scott Mercado, the shortest middle on the floor, delivering four momentum-changing blocks. There was freshman Drew Mammen dictating the flow of the game, and his older brother, Miles, putting everything he had into each of his nine kills.
The effort was there from start to finish at Sobrato High School. But the Santa Teresa Division champs needed much more to beat No. 8 Pacific Collegiate in a battle of postseason first-timers.
The Pumas, a second-year varsity program composed entirely of underclassmen, looked nothing of the sort while dispatching the Bulldogs 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22 behind 16 kills by Jason Gilbert, 12 kills, four blocks and 10 digs by Nathan Carson and 41 assists by Jake Hedrick.
The runners-up from the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League withstood a noisy home crowd and feverish late rallies by SHS in each game to reach the Division II quarterfinals.
“We gave it everything we had. It just wasn’t enough,” said Drew Mammen, who collected a staggering nine kills, 24 assists, eight digs, four blocks and four aces. “I didn’t think they were going to be that good. They came to play.”
Though they were undone by their own mistakes, including 25 errors in Game 1, the Bulldogs had no room for regrets. Not after this season. They finished 15-10 overall and 9-1 in league, a stark contrast to their 2-12 record a year ago and their 1-17 mark in 2009.
On top of capturing their first league title, they became the first SHS volleyball team to win a playoff set.
“It’s been awesome,” said Miles Mammen, one of five seniors on the team. “I mean, I’m not happy we lost in CCS, but it was still an amazing year.”
It took two games for the Bulldogs to find their rhythm. They seldom faced such well-polished opponents as Pacific Collegiate (22-9) during the regular season.
“They were definitely better on defense, better than most teams we’ve seen,” second-year SHS coach Todd Anderson said. “They were digging better. We had them down to where we knew where they were going to hit, but our blocks took a while to come around. And we just made too many errors.”
That changed toward the end of a back-and-forth Game 3, with Sobrato’s frontline finding holes in the Pumas’ defense. After trailing 21-16, the Bulldogs pulled even at 22-all with two kills by Miles Mammen and another one by Santiago, plus two Pacific Collegiate errors. Miles Mammen followed with an ace to push Sobrato ahead, and Mercado added an adrenaline-pumping stuff block to make it 24-22 SHS.
Drew Mammen dialed up Santiago for the winning kill.
“I can’t believe we pulled that one out,” Mercado said. “I knew we could win it tonight, and we almost did.”
The Bulldogs stayed hot in Game 4, trading points with the Pumas until it was 10-10.
“We eliminated errors, and we actually started playing the play we talked about,” Anderson said. “We had hits, and our blocks were there.”
Pacific Collegiate took over, though, behind Hedrick and Gilbert. The juniors connected for four kills during an 8-4 scoring run that put their team ahead 18-14. The margin stayed the same until Sobrato whittled it to 20-19 with two kills by Drew Mammen and a stuff block by Cavan Howay.
The Bulldogs made it a one-point game (23-22) again only to lose a long rally for the next point. They did not recover.
“Sobrato came out strong and threw us off a couple times,” said Pacific Collegiate coach Harlina Manley, whose team will face league rival Mount Madonna, the top seed, Thursday. “I didn’t expect them to block us like that tonight. My boys are young, but they handled themselves well and fought for it.”
The Pumas won the first two games with ease. They caught Sobrato off guard with intricate plays in Game 1 and held a comfortable lead most of the way. In Game 2, Pacific Collegiate took control for good with a 5-0 opening run. The Bulldogs trimmed the margin to 8-7, but could not maintain momentum with their mistakes and the Pumas countering each SHS rally with a bigger one.
“Errors just killed us,” Miles Mammen said. “We knew we couldn’t hold back. We had to play like it was our last game. Tonight it was.”
