The St. Patrick-St. Vincent High girls varsity volleyball team won its second straight match after sweeping visiting St. Helena on Tuesday, 25-22, 25-20, 25-20.
It was the first three-set sweep for the Lady Bruins (2-1) this season and set up a big home match Thursday against Justin-Siena – the team that beat SPSV in last year’s North Coast Section Division IV championship match.
“We were kinda giving it to them in that third set, but we played well in the first and second set,” SPSV head coach Danette Domecus said of Tuesday’s victory. “I think we felt it was going to be an easy game and we had it, and (St. Helena) started to get ahead of us. But we finished it in three.”
The Lady Bruins built a 12-7 lead early in the opening set, but St. Helena (1-2) rallied to tie things at 16-16 and eventually led 18-16 thanks to big plays by Tate Battistini, Julia DeVincenzi and Sophia Sakopoulos. But the Lady Bruins answered right back behind great plays from Nikki Lumaoud, Halle Webster, Malia Bolko, Julia Kistner, Kristina Manuel and Isabel Villalobos. A kill by Webster put SPSV back in front by a point and an ace by Manuel capped a 5-0 run for a 21-18 lead. Kills by Villalobos and Bolko pushed the lead to 24-22, and an ace by Lumauod gave SPSV the set.
“(St. Helena) had a couple of really good hitters and their setter did a really good job getting the ball to them, but they had a rough time passing, and when you can’t pass, it affects your offense,” Domecus said.
SPSV took an early 13-8 lead in the second set and never let go. St. Helena tried to cross things up with some difficult serves, but the Lady Bruins were able to handle everything the Lady Saints threw at them.
“We have to be solid on our serve receive,” Domecus said. “When we get that first ball where we want it, our hitters do a decent job of finding a place to put it down.”
St. Helena showed signs of life in the third set, going up 7-3 and 16-13. But SPSV again rallied during crunch time, finding Bolko for big kills en route to the sweep.
“Malia did a good job of finding places to put the ball down and Julia was our savior on serve receive and defense,” Domecus said.
Bolko led SPSV with nine kills and five digs while Villalobos added seven kills and two digs. Lumauod had six kills and 13 assists, and Webster added five kills and two blocks.
“In the past, we’ve always had that one player we go to and it made it easier for teams to defend us,” Domecus said. “But now we have offense everywhere and that makes it more difficult for teams to stop us.”
Kistner finished with 10 digs and five aces, Manuel finished had 16 assists and two blocks, Taylor Castro added four kills and three blocks, and Candice Turk had five blocks.