SAN FRANCISCO — Pitman High’s Payton Rowell sat in the front row of the bleachers at Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Christian Brothers Court, gathering her things and getting ready for the trip home to Turlock.
The Pride had just lost to the Fighting Irish 25-14, 20-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-11 in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division 2 Northern California tournament.
The senior setter was unusually composed for somebody who’s high school career had come to an end minutes earlier in a five-set heartbreaker.
There were no tears, as there were two weeks ago when the Pride lost to Folsom 3-1 in the Sac-Joaquin Section quarterfinals, before learning of an at-large bid to the NorCal tourney.
“Nope, not this time,” said Rowell, as she battled with a shoelace. “We just wanted that second chance; we got it and we took it as far as we could against a really good team.”
Sacred Heart Cathedral (24-14) competes in the super-tough West Catholic Athletic League, which includes Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) and St. Francis (Mountain View) — the top two seeds in the NorCal Open Division tourney — and St. Ignatius (S.F.), which was seeded No. 7 in the Open Division before bowing out to St. Francis. Valley Christian (San Jose), the fifth-place team out of the WCAL, remains alive in the D-1 bracket.
Playing in the second-floor gymnasium inside the St. Theresa of Avila Student Life Center, the court jiggled like a trampoline during furious rallies. And there were numerous lengthy rallies during a match that saw both sides’ hitters deliver bomb after bomb, only to have them dug out time and time again.
“They were resilient. It was like, man, we thought the ball was down and …” said Kristen Pontes-Christian, her voice trailing off as she replayed the countless opportunities in her mind. “They’re a great defensive team.”
According to SHC coach Symone Mackiewicz, it was actually an off night for the Irish defense.
“Usually, our serve-receive is a lot better,” said Mackiewicz, a compliment to Pitman’s hitters. “My (defensive specialists) had a little bit of an off night, that’s why we were swapping them in and out. But my libero (Angelynn Gumboc) is always pretty solid and gets to every ball.”
While defense was key for the Fighting Irish, it was a diminutive outside hitter that spurred them to victory.
Five-foot-six senior Sarah Caulder, hitting from the left side, delivered 19 kills, most of them coming a key points in the match.
“The main thing is she keeps the ball in play,” said Pontes-Christian. “She doesn’t make mistakes.”
In the race-to-15 fifth set, Pitman (34-7) fell behind 10-4 but rallied to make it 13-10. On the next point, Madison Eissayou blocked an SHC attempt that appeared to make the score 13-11. However, the umpire called Eissayou for touching the net, giving the Irish a more comfortable four-point margin. After a brief consultation with the net referee, the call was upheld.
“She’s done that a thousand times and has never hit the net,” said Pontes-Christian. “And, normally, if you hit the net there’s a little bit of movement. There was no movement.”
With the loss, not only does Pitman season’s come to an end, but also the coaching career of Pontes-Christian, who is retiring after a 16-season run that included three Sac-Joaquin Section banners, one NorCal championship and 376 career victories.
“I think at first (SHC) thought it was going to be easy sailing, but in the second set we changed that,” said Pontes-Christian. “We put the pressure on them to earn their points, which is what we wanted to do. We wanted to battle, and we did that.”
After the Irish dominated the first set, it appeared they might make quick work of the Pride. But with the second set tied 9-9 after a Caulder bomb, Eissayou delivered a kill of her own for a side-out and a 10-9 lead. Aila Reich then stepped to the back line and delivered four ace serves, coupled with an Ella Sniezek kill, to give Pitman a 15-9 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
After falling in the third, Pitman opened the fourth by jumping out to a comfortable five-point lead, 11-6, but SHC rallied to within 18-16. After the Irish returned it long to make it 19-16, Rowell delivered an ace served, and Eissayou, Sniezek and Maryn Hall each delivered thunderous spikes during the final surge that set up the deciding set.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” said Pontes-Christian. “It was a great season.”
