BENICIA HIGH varsity volleyball coach Jamie Hadenfeldt gets a goodbye hug from senior Semele Hargis (8) after the Lady Panthers were eliminated from the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

A stunned Benicia High volleyball team made a quick exit from the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs after a 17-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 loss to visiting El Capitan on Tuesday.

The Lady Panthers (16-7), seeded No. 8 in the tournament, had No. 9 seed El Capitan (15-13) by the throat after winning the opening set and taking a 16-12 lead in the second set. But the Lady Gauchos came roaring back, using a block and an ace by Courtney Volk to spark a 7-3 run that knotted the match.

Benicia jumped out to a 18-13 lead in the third set thanks to several tip points by senior Jessica Blakeman, only to see El Capitan go on a 8-2 run for a 21-20 lead. A block by Volk and an ace by Kelsey Davis made it 23-20, and a tip by Volk moved the Lady Gauchos one set away from the match.

“We had some really amazing points and passes and saves, and then we had a lot of stupid mistakes,” said Benicia senior Semele Hargis. “The mistakes were overpowering the good points.”

“Losing that lead sucked out energy we didn’t have in the first place,” said Benicia head coach Jamie Hadenfeldt. We were struggling from the start with unforced errors and as the night went on, we couldn’t find ways to score.”

El Capitan jumped out to leads of 12-7 and 20-14 in the fourth set as Benicia’s woes continued, and two points at the net by Davis finished off the Lady Panthers, who were eliminated in the opening round for a second straight year.

“It just wasn’t a good night for us at all,” said Benicia senior Jessica Blakeman. “We had no communication and weren’t playing well together.”

It was the last match as head coach for Hadenfeldt, who is retiring after 10 years guiding the Lady Panthers.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a great 10 years here and I’ve seen a lot of good players come and go through the program,” Hadenfeldt said. “I’m proud to have been a part of it and it’ll be sad to say goodbye.”

The Lady Panthers were hoping to postpone saying goodbye until at least the semifinals.

“It may take awhile to come to terms with it,” Hargis said. “I definitely feel bad that we couldn’t have gone farther for her, but we all tried really hard.”

El Capitan advanced to a quarterfinal match against top-seeded Christian Brothers, which swept Bethel out of the postseason.

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