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The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
Photo courtesy of Livia Ong.
There was a moment of tension after Lakewood (19-13) opened its second-round matchup against Yucaipa (11-16) with a six-point deficit, but the Lancers remained unfazed.
Lakewood kept itself in the set even after trailing by as many as nine points, eventually mounting a comeback and closing the frame on a six-point run of its own to take the set and suck the life out of the visiting Thunderbirds. The Lancers followed with a pair of convincing set wins over Yucaipa to complete the sweep and advance to the CIF-SS Division 6 quarterfinals, 26-24, 25-18, 25-15.
“One of our mantras is to just move on to the next play,” said Lakewood coach Adam Wadley. “I was a little worried with the start of that first set, but I told them not to worry about the scoreboard and to just keep on playing. We did a good job chipping away without trying to do too much on each play.”
Part of Lakewood’s early struggles came from Yucaipa’s service pressure, as junior Remedy Valadez put down five aces during the opening six-point run, prompting a timeout from Wadley. The Lancers were then able to chip away at the lead and eventually fought off four set points before closing out the set on their first opportunity.
Once the Lancers settled in on serve-receive, senior setter Layla Bailey-Zavala was able to get comfortable and finished with 22 assists while spreading the ball around to six different teammates for kills. Senior Jenna Smith once again led the team with 11 kills on .533 hitting, while Mialani Mapu added five kills and a team-high four aces.
“After those five aces in the first set, we came together and just talked it out to see how we could move around the court,” Bailey-Zavala said. “We shifted around a little and just tried to make little runs from there. Anything to keep the ball in play, right? As long as we kept it in the court, we were going to make our run, and we got back up.”
It certainly felt like the end of that first set put a dent in Yucaipa’s momentum, but the Thunderbirds still battled their way to a three-point lead midway through the second set. From there, Lakewood went on a 9-1 run that featured three aces, three kills and a block before the Lancers later closed the frame on a 7-3 run to go up two sets to none.
Lakewood then cruised to its most dominant set of the night in the third, where the Lancers went on a 17-4 run through the middle of the frame that included 11 Yucaipa errors. The visitors fought off four match points before Mapu put down the final kill to complete the sweep, capping off a stretch in which she recorded three kills in Lakewood’s final four points.
“I think it was just confidence,” Bailey-Zavala said of the final two sets. “It was just about staying in the right mindset and having tunnel vision in our heads. We wanted to play as a whole team instead of just an individual, and we did a really good job of that.”
“I told them not to be hesitant and just keep pressing,” Wadley added. “Our biggest point of emphasis is urgency. I tell these girls that we can’t wait for them to make a mistake—we need to win the point on our own. We’re good enough to win our own.”
Yucaipa finished the night with 13 aces, while Lakewood recorded 11 of its own, including four from Mapu and three from Aaryn Hunter. Smith and Mapu helped steady Lakewood’s serve receive as the match progressed, combining to handle the majority of the Lancers’ receptions while limiting Yucaipa to just one ace in the final set.
“I think [Yucaipa] did a really good job on their first touch in the beginning of that first set, and it took us a while to get better on the serve-receive end,” Wadley said. “They had some good swings but we practiced a lot and watched a lot of film to prepare for them in the last few days. I think we did a good job with our game plan.”
Lakewood will advance to the CIF-SS Division 6 quarterfinals on Tuesday, when the Lancers travel to face local rival Mayfair.
