Serra falls to old foe Bellarmine

Bellarmine (6-0 WCAL, 11-0 overall) rolled to a four-set victory 25-17, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22. The Bells have now posted a 25-0 record against Serra over the past 10 seasons, and have won at least 27 straight, dating back to 2009 when the earliest modern records are available.

“We always give a good fight though,” Serra junior Nick Disco said. “We always take at least one set off them. … It’s good competition.”

Senior outside hitter Chris Boken led way for the Bells with a match-high 25 kills. The converted middle hitter has come into his own this season, currently averaging 4.3 kills per set, ranking fourth in the Central Coast Section among teams reporting statistics to MaxPreps.com.

“It helps if we need a kill, we can get him the ball and he can get a kill,” Bellarmine head coach Tyler Hinz said. “It’s hard to diminish how important that is.”

Serra (5-1, 13-2) is keeping pace with its 27-8 overall record from last year despite graduating its best player in Zachary Smith and parting ways with former head coach Gary Colbert.

Heather Anthony has taken over as varsity head coach this season after serving as varsity assistant for Colbert the past two seasons. Anthony becomes the first woman ever to coach the Serra volleyball team, and is now one of just five women to serve as a varsity head coach at Serra for any sport.

Kriste Miner-Morris was the first female varsity head coach at Serra, running the tennis team from 1993-94. Since then, Kellie Clarke and Catherine Holmberg each served as varsity water polo head coach, and Cassandra Cunningham was head coach of the crew team in the 2000s.

“Honestly, it’s nothing different for me,” Anthony said, who previously served as head coach of the freshman girls’ volleyball team at Sacred Heart Prep from 2012-14, and as the Mercy-Burlingame junior-varsity girls’ head coach from 2016-18. Serra marks her first varsity head coaching position.

“I have my same philosophy,” she said. “It’s not really a factor. I don’t do anything differently. I just do my job.”

Anthony is something of Serra royalty. Her father Bruce taught at the school for 41 years until retiring after the 2017-18 school year. He is also the longtime public address announcer for the varsity basketball team. This year was his 41st year as the voice of the Padres. He now announces volleyball matches as well, taking the gig when his daughter two years ago when his daughter joined the program.

Anthony had her work cut out for her this year in retooling the lineup in the wake of Smith’s graduation. Serra returned five players from last year’s CCS Division II playoff semifinalist, though, including Disco, who actually didn’t play last year due to injury.

“Last year they had a great team but [Smith] was their version of Boken,” Hinz said. “But the difference is they get contributions from a lot more guys. And they pass a lot better than they did last season.”

Disco and junior Brian Ronan off the outside, along with senior middle hitter Cade Rees, balance a consistent double threat up front. Each recorded double-digit kills Tuesday, with Ronan firing a team-high 15, Disco adding 14 and Rees going for 12.

“[Smith graduating] definitely changed our offense losing such a strong hitter,” Disco said. “But I think everyone has picked it up. … We have a lot more diversity with our hitters.”

The contrast between Disco and Ronan is discernable, if for no other reason than Disco is a right-hander and Ronan is a lefty. They bring far different temperaments to the court as well. Disco is steady and quietly explosive. Ronan, meanwhile, is a fireball, getting extraordinary ups on his attacks.

“He gets up there and leaps,” Anthony said of Ronan, “and definitely surprises opponents who have never seen him.”

As for going up against a team like Bellarmine that has seen him plenty over the past two years, the results are similar.

“He can still catch people off guard,” Anthony said.

Serra looked to its outside attack from the outset Tuesday, while Bellarmine opened by testing the middle. The Padres’ defense changed that approach in a hurry, though, scoring the team’s first three points of the match via block. Senior Matthew Conry went for back-to-back roofs and senior Owen Connolly added a third to put Serra up 3-2 early in the opening set.

Bellarmine course corrected though, pivoted to a 5-4 lead on a kill by senior outside hitter Zach Schlossman (12 match kills) and led the rest of the way.

“They were very tough for us in that regard,” Anthony said. “And once they are able to bounce back, they can make those changes on the fly.”

The critical juncture of the opening set was with Bellarmine up 11-9. Serra’s front-row defense put back two Bells attempts through the middle, but the rally stayed alive for a third attack. Bellarmine then cashed in on a swing from senior Chris Varseveld (nine kills, five blocks) to spark a four-point run, including Serra misfiring long on each of the next two points.

Game 2 saw Serra jump out to a quick 5-1 lead but Bellarmine rallied back. The set was tied at seven junctures and as late as 17-17. Boken then went through the middle for a kill to spark a mini three-point run for the Bells. The Padres closed it to 24-23 when Bellarmine missed long for just its seventh unforced error through the opening two sets. Boken put the set away, though, firing a long cross for a coffin-corner kill.

In Game 3, Serra got out to a 5-0 lead. Bellarmine responded with a five-point run of its own. A seesaw battle ensued that had Serra up 23-20. The Bells fired back to force extra points, tying it 24-24 on a Boken block. Disco, though, kept the match alive with back-to-back kills, catching the back line at set point to force a Game 4.

The final set saw Serra overcome an early 10-3 deficit, tying it late at 21-21 before Varseveld put the Bells up, scoring a kill and a block amid a 3-1 run, capped by Boken’s kill from the pipe to force match point. Varseveld then closed out the win with a service ace.

The Padres have one more WCAL showdown slated with Bellarmine this season April 10 in San Jose. The two teams also have a chance to meet at the Bellarmine tournament April 5-6.