Rolling Hills Estates – Drake Harris of the peninsula described the last point of the quarter -final battle in division 2 of the Southern section on Wednesday as one of the strangest he ever knew.
“It was probably the strangest feeling I have ever served,” said Harris. “My legs spray and the crowd became crazy.”
Serving at Match Point, Harris watched Santa Margarita withdraw before the Eagles were able to vomit his last murder, sending the peninsula to an exciting victory of five sets, 19-25, 25-23, 24-26, 31-29, 18-16.
The peninsula (20-7) will welcome St. Margaret’s in the semi-finals on Saturday.
All the signs highlighted the peninsula forcing a fifth match without too much decline from Santa Margarita (24-9) after taking an advance of 24-21 after having killed by Harris and Kyle Boger. The Eagles responded behind a block and a killing of Ignosci Brooks.
“This is probably the most electric game I have ever been,” said Harris. “We thought it was a lock, they returned and we were worried. It would have been the end of the season.”
Kyle Boger of the peninsula recorded nine striking attacks in the fourth set, including a killing to reach 25-25 and another to equalize the match at 26-26. Harris’ sixth murder of the fourth match equaled the match at 29-29, and after a mistake by Santa Margarita, the killing of Carter Zee maintained the peninsula season. Harris finished with 27 striking attacks.
“Certain rotations from which we could not go out and (setter) Robert (Michael) has done a very good job of work with our environment (Boger) and to get out,” said Harris. “At the end of this, we were filled with motivation to win the fifth.”
The peninsula dragged 13-8 in the fifth set after three consecutive points of Fenton Redan by Santa Margarita, but made Boger and Harris advance when the panthers needed it. The duo recorded victims on consecutive points and after an Eagle error, Boger’s death was 13-12.
Boger finished with 21 striking attacks.
After a point by Santa Margarita, Boger won a game over the net before another Eagles error is equal to the game at 14-14.
“We were talking about not giving up and we continued to rally,” said Harris. “Once we arrived at 12-14, I went back to serve and I had a few lucky points.”
The eight kill of Zee night gave a peninsula match before the Harris Kill found the field open, sending the panther’s touch line and the crowd in a frenzy.
“I trust my players. We do our job in the gymnasium before the match, everything we did (Wednesday) that we practiced,” said Peninsula coach Kevin Williams. “In the end, you need a few things to follow you and they did it.”
The peninsula made nine mistakes in the opening match, unable to get closer to Santa Margarita, who used her strength in the net.
“(Santa Margarita) is really well trained,” said Boger. “(They have) super disciplined blocks, difficult to pass. They opt for a low seam and high hands, score scrappy points and that makes the task difficult.”
After only three victims in the opening set, Harris started to put his mark on the match in the second set. The striker linked to the UC Santa Cruz recorded eight significant attacks in the second set, helping the panthers at a 25-232 victory.
But Harris’ game in the fifth decisive match showed how precious it was for the Panthers. The train of 14-13, a diving excavation helped keep the ball in life before an eagle error was 14-14 and 16-15, he excavated before Boger’s killing was 16-16.
“(Harris) was phenomenal. He was stable with the passage and intelligent enough to adjust his portion according to what we were doing,” said Williams. “He is one of those players on which I do not put constraints. I let him play volleyball and I trust him.”
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
