The most telling play had to be the last. The Turlock Christian volleyball players just needed one more point to finish off visiting Stone Ridge Christian in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V Tournament on Tuesday night at Calvary Baptist Gym.The Eagles had plenty of advantages at this point.This was a home playoff game. By this time, they were up two sets to none. And then the ball went toward the ground and Molly Zuhlke went in for a scoop. It was difficult to see if the senior had gotten to it in time or not.That might explain why the opposing Knights stopped on the play.The Eagles didn’t, and they capitalized on it. The ball eventually went over the other side of the net and Stone Ridge Christian didn’t recover in time, finishing off the night with a three-game sweep (25-10, 25-20, 25-22). With the win, No. 3 Turlock Christian will host another home playoff game on Thursday against No. 7 Bradshaw Christian at 7 p.m.They got here because of a no-quit attitude, even if the Eagles were winning by a lot. The match’s final play also resulted in the Stone Ridge Christian coach slamming his clipboard against his team bench, though he quickly settled and congratulated his players and the Eagles for a hard-fought match.“It was encouraging to see my girls not give up on a point, not stop playing,” TC coach Keith Landmeier said. “That was one thing I saw throughout the night, that they didn’t stop playing on any ball.”From the very beginning the Eagles dominated.Sure, they were some hiccups, but the TC players overcome it every time. On this night, the Eagles had plenty of weapons in Rebekah Muller (eight kills, three aces), Molly Farrar (three blocks, 12 assists), Kara Gabrielson (11 digs) and Kaisa Spycher (three aces).Now, the Eagles are one win away from the Division V title game.“We didn’t over-think anything,” Farrar said. “We had confidence that we’d play our best. As long as we do that, I think we know we can do well and teams have to look out.”To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.
Eagles take first-round sweep
TC volleyball moves on after dominating match
