Grossmont Defeats FRC In Five
CCCAA State Women's Volleyball Championships
at Cabrillo College
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Grossmont rallied from 2-1 down in sets and defeated Feather River in five games to stay alive in the '14 CCCAA State Women's Volleyball Championships Sunday morning. The 2-hour match featured outstanding play from both teams.
In the end, it was the Griffins' duo of All-American outside hitter Lexi Reddick and second setter Brooke Wheeler who turned things around over the final two sets.
In the deciding fifth set, Grossmont roared to an 8-2 lead behind four kills and a solo block by Reddick. Feather River got to as close as 10-5, but Brooke Callahan slammed in two kills later in the set, including the clincher for a 15-6 game win and match victory.
Wheeler came off the bench to record 29 assists, nine digs, four blocks, a kill and an ace with most of the production occurring in the last three sets. Reddick pounded 22 kills with 10 digs while Callahan added 11 kills and six blocks. Jasmine Rivera was another hero with seven kills and four blocks.
Grossmont hit .312 in set 4 and .368 as a team in the fifth set (.191 overall), but served well with 12 aces. Four of those were turned in by starting setter Rachel Linden.
For Feather River, which made its highest state finish ever in fourth place, All-American libero Nina Holmes (11 digs and several spectacular saves off blocks) and middle blocker Stephanie Ovitz (17 kills, .382, and five blocks) were named to the All-State Tournament team.
"Nina is legit and played her heart out this tournament," said Feather River coach Sarah Ritchie. "Stephanie stepped up and became our go-to player here. I wished our outside hitters had performed better. I think later in the match we played scared, playing not to lose. You can't do that at in this type of tournament or you lose like we did."
Griffins' coach Jamie Ivers talked about the swing in momentum in the last two sets.
"We've not been very good statistically here and we finally started to be consistent at hitting the last two sets," Ivers said. "Wheeler started our first 14 matches this year and she set for us in the state tourney last year. That experience showed in her play the last few sets. Lexi has been our steady Eddie, and she's a remarkable athlete. In the fifth, she took over the match."
Grossmont faces Cabrillo at 1 p.m. with the winner taking on Irvine Valley in the championship final at 3:30 p.m. The loser of the 1 p.m. match takes third place at the state tourney.