Westmoor volleyball breaks Central Coast Section curse

Westmoor (15-16 overall) delivered its 20th year coach his first career Central Coast Section playoff victory with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-18 sweep of King City in the CCS Division III opener Saturday in Daly City. It marks just the second win in a CCS playoff match in Westmoor’s history, and the first in 25 years. The Rams earned their only other CCS win Nov. 16, 1996, at North Salinas.

“It’s been a rollercoaster season for us,” Mauga-Head said. “And I knew that this was going to be a rollercoaster match for us.”

Saturday also marked the first time Westmoor has hosted a CCS playoff match during Mauga-Head’s career. The Rams just barely earned the hosting nod, getting seeded No. 8 while visiting King City was seeded No. 9. This left King City having to travel 150 miles, one of the longest distances between two CCS schools there is.

“Oh man, when I saw it on the board, I knew [traveling to King City] was a possibility,” Mauga-Head said. “And I was just like — ‘Oh my gosh!’ And, of course, when we got ranked a little higher … the numbers just worked out for us.”

Despite Westmoor earning the sweep, the two teams played a close match befitting of the close seedings. Big point runs were a defining characteristic of the contest, with 10 lead changes in the match, including four in the first set and four more in the second.

King City sophomore Lisa Villanueva was a mighty equalizer, recording a match-high 16 kills.

But Westmoor countered with its signature scrappy defense, relying on senior libero Angel Rai and junior defensive specialist Megan Chen to keep the undersized Rams on point. The Mustangs went on to commit 33 unforced errors, including 28 field errors.

“Our main goal is to just keep the ball up,” Rai said. “Westmoor’s defense is known for being scrappy and just getting it up, play our game and just keep the ball in play, letting the other team make mistakes. We’re not really known for having tall hitters or blockers. So, we just try to force the other team into errors.”

The Mustangs (11-16) nearly took control of the match late in the first set though. King City setter Daisy Andrade stepped to the service line with her team trailing 15-10 in Game 1 and led the Mustangs on an 8-0 run.

Despite her otherwise standout performance, Rai struggled to pick up the knuckling spin on Andrade’s serves. Andrade continued picking on the serve receive of Rai until Mauga-Head subbed in Megan Chen at middle back.

“I think whenever I’m subbed out, our coach knows that we’re feeling a lot of pressure,” Rai said. “And when you’re playing defense, you need a good mindset. So, if our coach feels like we’re getting too much pressure then he just subs out players, let that other person get a little rest and get their thoughts straightened out.”

Megan Chen immediately polished the Rams’ serve receive, put up a perfect pass, and got the offense in system for junior Melanie Chen to tool a kill off the left side and force a side-out.

“When we’re down by like four points, it’s kind of stressful,” Megan Chen said. “So, it’s our job to just stay calm, just get the next point and just win the lead back.”

Westmoor quickly regained the lead on a string of four straight King City errors. Sophomore Kaylie Quon and junior Nicole Francisco had kills down the stretch to help seal the Game 1 victory.

Then in Game 2, senior Harmony Auau emerged off the right side, giving Westmoor an option to match the power Villanueva’s swings. King City again led late, this time 23-21. But Auau responded with her fourth kill of the set, a compact swing to exact the heart of the Mustangs’ floor.

“Honestly, I feel like it’s a team thing,” Auau said. “But once everybody is down, somebody has to step up to really encourage the team to keep going because there’s a lot more game left.”

Auau’s power put Westmoor on a 4-0 run to close Game 2, with senior Megan Lao scoring two late kills — a tool off the left side to tie it at 23, before finishing off the set with a sharp shot down the sideline.

Westmoor maintained the momentum into Game 3, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead. But the lead didn’t last long, and King City once again swung out front 8-7.

“Honestly, you don’t really feel comfortable at all,” Auau said of the rollercoaster match. “You’ve got to be on your toes when you’re … and you can’t get too comfortable, because once you get comfortable, that’s when the points start stacking on.”

But a 5-1 run put the Rams up for good. This time it was Rai who went on a strong service run, collecting two aces in the set with her standing float serve.

Westmoor totaled four aces in the final set, including an ace by Lao to finish off the match.

Lao and Melanie Chen shared the team-high with eight kills apiece, while Auau finished with seven.

Mauga-Head said Westmoor didn’t have the depth to make a lot of substitutions earlier in the season. So, for the CCS playoffs, he called up five players from the junior-varsity squad, activating three of them for Saturday’s match.

“I couldn’t do changes when I didn’t have the numbers,” Mauga-Head said. “But now that I have the numbers, I was able to implement a player to fill in. At the same time, I knew I had depth on my roster. So, just in case something happens, I knew I could put in players that could play the position.”

This allowed Mauga-Head make the critical tactical changes Westmoor needed for its first playoff win in a quarter century.

“Coach Rex, he’s really good at reading the court and reading what the team needs at the time,” Auau said. “So, when we’re falling short in an area, he knows who can fill that spot and get us to where we need to be.”

With the win, Westmoor advances to Tuesday’s quarterfinal round. The Rams travel to top-seed Burlingame (21-6) for a 7 p.m. start.