The most successful season in Benicia High volleyball history came to a disappointing finish Tuesday night when the Lady Panthers lost a five-set thriller to host El Camino, 24-26, 25-17, 23-25, 25-14, 15-13, in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals in Sacramento.
Benicia, the No. 4 seed in the tournament and playing in its first SJS semifinal in school history, took No. 1 seeded El Camino right to the edge. The Lady Panthers looked poised to reach Friday’s Division III finals at U.C. Davis leading 6-1 in the decisive fifth set. But El Camino (46-3), ranked No. 14 in the state, rallied to tie things at 10-10, won a few crucial points after long rallies and got a match-ending kill from Makenzie Reeder-Esparaza.
“I was happy and proud of the girls,” Benicia head coach Jamie Hadenfeldt said of her history-making squad. “The final point was a long rally that ended with a strong kill from them. It’s not like we made an error to give them the match. They just beat us.”
It was only the second loss all year for Benicia, which finished with a 29-2 overall record. Tuesday’s loss also denied the Lady Panthers a spot in the upcoming Northern California Tournament.
El Camino, which won SJS championships in 2012, 2011 and 2009, will take on No. 2 seed Christian Brothers in Friday’s Division III finals.
“We knew going in that they were experienced, had height and were higher ranked than us, but we gave them everything we had,” Hadenfeldt said. “We played with some fire and passion.”
Cassidy Jannson had 17 kills and 18 digs while senior teammate Megan Osterholt added 19 kills, 13 digs and two blocks for the Lady Panthers. Kellie Sluga had 12 kills and three blocks, Eden Fukushima dished out 53 assists and sophomore Ramona Glatzel had 33 digs.
Benicia won the first and third sets but couldn’t put the Lady Eagles away.
“We played so hard in the sets that we won that I think we took a break and lost the next sets,” Hadenfeldt said. “We just couldn’t keep the momentum.
“In the moment of the loss it’s hard to reflect on how great a season we had. We only lost twice all season to two really good teams. It feels really cruddy to have lost this match and coming so close to knocking off the No. 1 seed, but we have to remember the success we had.”
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