Soquel closes out rival Harbor in tight, four-set match | SCCAL girls volleyball

SOQUEL — The masks covered the Knights’ facial expressions. Still, it was obvious there was a sigh of relief when Soquel High freshman outside hitter Jessie Dueck slammed down the match winner against Harbor’s girls volleyball team Thursday night.

Soquel, the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion the last time an indoor season was played in 2019, is getting every opponent’s best effort since teams have returned indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pirates were no exception.

A balanced offense and some timely defense for the Knights, combined with some late hitting errors by the Pirates, allowed Soquel to avoid another five-setter on its home turf as it prevailed 25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 25-22 in their third league match.

“It’s nice to be the team that everyone wants to beat, but it also brings a level of intensity to the games, that I said last time, I love, and I think the girls love to play with,” said Ciara Cantlen, the Knights’ star senior outside hitter. “It definitely makes it fun and entertaining.”

After opening SCCAL play with a five-set loss to Santa Cruz at home last week, the Knights (4-3, 2-1) — who won the most recent of their three Central Coast Section titles in 2018 — rebounded nicely, posting wins over San Lorenzo Valley and Harbor. They’ll look to add to their mini streak on Tuesday, when they take on host Scotts Valley.

Cantlen, committed to play beach volleyball for the University of Hawaii, led the attack with 16 kills, but she was one of many offensive outlets. Dueck had 10 kills, middle Kylee Eze had eight kills and Carmella Muccilli had seven and Natalie Kamalani added five.

Eze, recovering from an ankle injury, continued to see her minutes and contributions increase. She also had nine blocks. Cantlen (13 digs and three blocks), Maya Rhee-Pizano (12 digs) and Muccilli (nine digs and three blocks) were also key on defense.

While the tall Soquel squad created an intimidating wall of blockers, Harbor — whose program has claimed five CCS titles — didn’t flinch. Senior outside hitter Olive Hess, committed to play for D-III Vassar College next year, worked through and around Soquel’s block with success. She was an all-around force with 14 kills, 10 digs and two aces.

“It was fun,” said Simone McIntyre, a senior outside hitter for the Pirates. “It was fun having a team you can really compete with and push yourself to the absolute hardest, team-wise and individually. I feel like we matched up really well and I’m excited to play them next time.”

McIntyre, who will likely play for D-III Hunter College next season, received the bulk of the Pirates’ sets and finished with a team-high 19 kills to go along with 10 digs.

Harbor did its best to avoid attacking against Soquel’s block on the right side.

“We kinda rode our seniors,” said Matt Schutz, Harbor’s coach. “We kinda ran out of gas a little bit, but they stepped up. I want to see my seniors stud out, kinda, and they did. It was good.”

Cantlen, Dueck and Eze tested the Pirates’ defense throughout the match. Time and again, the Pirates (4-5, 1-1) were in position to extend points and counterattack. Senior libero Taylan Johnson recorded 20 digs to go along with five assists and two aces. Senior middle Cassandra Kemos had eight kills and four blocks.

The Pirates’ formidable attack was facilitated by setters Liliana Holbert, a senior, and freshman Maren O’Farrell, who had a combined 53 assists.

A small, but vocal, masked crowd was fired up for the duration of the match between the geographical rivals. The schools are separated by a mere three miles.

The bench players were chippy, too. The Knights were quick to note Dueck’s youth each time she shined, chanting, “She’s a freshman.” And the Pirates were more than happy to retort with the same chant each time one of their three starting freshmen — opposite Isla Johnson, middle Sabine Kemos and O’Farrell — made a big play.

Soquel rallied from an early, 4-1 deficit in set No. 1 to knot the score at 11-all. The teams were tied at 13-all when the Eze and Dueck heated up to go on a 5-0 run. The Knights never looked back in claiming the set.

Kemos’ play — two blocks and a kill — early in the second set helped the Pirates stake a 9-2 lead and Hess and McIntyre put on a hitting clinic to knot the match at one set each.

“Matt’s a fantastic coach,” said Al Adamsen, the Knights’ coach. “He saw some vulnerabilities in our defense and he went after them. His hitters are very skilled and they were going line and we had a tough time stopping it. Kudos to them. They’re super scrappy. They weren’t letting the ball go down. It was a fun, fun match. We’re lucky to get out of this with a victory.”

The final two sets were much tighter than the first two. The teams were deadlocked at 17-all when Dueck provided some clutch kills down the stretch to gain a 2-1 set advantage.

The teams were deadlocked 15 times in set No. 4, including 22-all. Cantlen was a steady force when her team needed her most. Eze had a huge block and Dueck had two late kills to seal the victory.

Mission accomplished: Soquel avoided going to a do-or-die fifth set, a race to 15 points.

“We always say, ‘Work hard now so we don’t have to work even harder later,’ ” Cantlen said. “You know, push as hard as we can so we don’t have to go to that fifth set. And I think we did that well tonight.”

THE SCORE

Soquel 3, Harbor 1
(25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 25-22)
Up next for Soquel: vs. Scotts Valley
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Up next for Harbor: vs. Santa Cruz
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.