BENICIA HIGH’S volleyball team swept viciting Placer on Thursday to reach the Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals for the first time in the program’s history.

There was simply no denying Benicia High’s volleyball team last Thursday on its quest for history.

The Lady Panthers dominated visiting Placer from the start and cruised to a methodical 25-15, 25-15, 25-15 victory, sending Benicia to its first Sac-Joaquin Section semifinal in school history.

It was sweet revenge for the Lady Panthers, who were knocked out by Placer in last year’s quarterfinals.

“We all remember them killing us last year we all wanted it so bad,” said Benicia senior Cassidy Jannson.

“This is incredible, especially since it’s my senior year,” said Benicia’s Kellie Sluga. “I’m so excited.”

“They’ve been pumped up and working hard,” said head coach Jamie Hadenfeldt. “This is all they’ve been thinking about and they came out poised from the first point.”

The Lady Panthers improved to 29-1 on the year, another school record.

“We’ve been working so hard for this,” said sophomore Ramona Glatzel. “Our energy and our commitment to win is keeping us going.”

Benicia got off to strong starts in all three sets and overpowered the helpless Lady Hillmen (15-12). Jannson and fellow senior Megan Osterholt peppered Placer’s defense mercilessly from the outside. Jannson led everyone with 21 kills and added 10 digs while Osterholt finished with 11 kills and a team-high 18 digs. In all, Jannson and Osterholt accounted for 32 of Benicia’s 42 kills.

“They’re not afraid to take big swings and it’s paying off for them,” Hadenfeldt said.

Sluga, Lana Gore and Charlotte Cannizzaro shut down Placer in the middle while Glatzel, Taylor Lokey and Taylor Lewis controlled the back line. Senior Eden Fukushima dished out 42 assists. “We have a lot of different players who can contribute,” Hadenfeldt said. “We’re utilizing our weapons and making everyone a threat.”

“We had energy from the start and once we got momentum, we just kept going,” Jannson said.

“We came ready to play and we were pumped,” Sluga added. “We eliminated our errors and made them make the errors.”

Benicia, seeded fourth in the SJS Division III tournament, travels to No. 1 seed El Camino (45-3) in Sacramento for Tuesday’s semifinal. El Camino, which won Section championships in 2012, 2011 and 2009, swept No. 8 seed Los Banos on Thursday, 25-10, 25-17, 25-13.

“Our goal is the next game,” Jannson said. “We have another big monkey to take down.” “Now it’s time to win the Section,” Hadenfeldt said. That’s our big goal and we want it bad.”

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