La Reina gets one step closer

Photos by IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers SURVIVE AND ADVANCE—Above, La Reina defenders Katie Suwara, center, and Madeline Rumer leap to block Oxnard's Kalene DeGuzman during Tuesday's semifinal playoff match at OHS. Later on, La Reina's Sarah Hardy, bottom right, tries to put one past Oxnard's Jourdan Tubao-Lemons. The La Reina girls' volleyball team walked into a hornet's nest Tuesday night and came away unscathed.

Facing the Oxnard High Yellowjackets on the road in the CIF-Southern Section Division II-A semifinals, La Reina was able to capitalize on several of the match's most critical points for a thrilling four-game victory by scores of 25-19, 25-2024-26 and 26-24.

With the win, the Regents (3122), champions of the TriValley League, advance to Friday night's Division II-A title match against either La Canada or Troy at Cypress College.

The championship is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

Head coach Don Hyatt, in his 15th season with the team, said he's held the current group of players in high esteem throughout the entire year because of their steady, unselfish and gutsy playand against Oxnard all aspects of the Regents' repertoire were on full display.

"They are more of a team than anybody I think I've seen," said Hyatt, who led LRHS to its only section title in 2000 when the Regents competed in Division IV-AA.

"They don't get down when they're behind; they stay focused as a group. We've broken down a few times this year and haven't passed the ball like we're capable of, and a lot of teams would probably quit and fold. They don'tThey have confidence they can come back from any deficit and win any match."

Inspired by the rabid crowd at Oxnard, La Reina pulled away late in Games 1, 2 and 4.

Game 1 was tied 18-18 when the Regents broke through by winning seven of the final eight points. Freshman outside hitter Katherine Workman clinched the game for LRHS with an emphatic kill that was deflected out of bounds by the Yellowjacket defense.

"Our team really tends to feed off of the pressure; that's when we play our best because we step up to the level we need to," said Workman, following her 26-kill performance.

Game 2 was another backand-forth battle featuring 11 ties and four lead changes. But again, it was the Regents who ultimately finished the job by scoring six of the final seven points.

Outside hitter Daniella Anderson said her teammates had no intention of playing their final match of the season Tuesday night, so when push came to shove, they knew they had to step up and win points.

Still, it wasn't easy, she added, because the crowd kept Oxnard in the match, too.

"When we won at Oaks Christian earlier this year, we just shut down their entire crowd," said Anderson, one of only four La Reina seniors.

"This time it was loud the entire night. We couldn't turn the volume down like we did at Oaks Christian."

After dropping a nail-bitter in Game 3—the Regents hadn't lost a game since Oct. 30 at Oaks Christian and have only lost nine games all year—LRHS fended off a late charge from Oxnard in the fourth and final game.

Down 21-16, the Yellowjackets staged a furious rally to tie the score at 24-24 before the Regents secured their trip to the title match with two consecutive points.

As his team celebrated, Hyatt was quick to heap praise on several players.

He was especially thrilled with the defensive effort given by libero Annie Adams and defensive specialist Melissa Bloomgren, who executed a game plan the team had never worked on before.

"We hadn't run this defense even once on the court because I got my scouting report late," Hyatt said. "We made the change right before we got on the bus. . . .

"They hadn't used a (middleup formation) at any level they'd ever played in before. I'm so proud of those two girls."

Other standouts for the Regents included junior middle blocker Madeline Rumer (11 kills, four aces) and senior setter Hanna Stoiberg (36 assists, eight kills, two blocks).

Two years ago as sophomores, Stoiberg and Anderson, now team cocaptains, had to endure a semifinal playoff loss to Warren High.

This time they get a shot at a CIF-SS banner, and neither could be more excited about the opportunity.

"Each and every one of us truly believes we can do this," Anderson said. "We're going to the finals, and we're going there to win."

Added Stoiberg: "If we play like we're capable of playing, then we can win this thing."