Tehachapi News

Remarkable season ends at playoffs for Lady Warrior Volleyball

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Maybe because it was a season full of accomplishments, firsts and championships that the THS varsity volleyball team didn't seem to be all that disappointed after their elimination in round one of the CIF State Playoffs.

“Everybody was sad to see the season end,” Coach Sally White said. “On reflection it was kind of bittersweet after the celebration from last week. They were excited about the state but they had so many accomplishments they didn't quite play their A-plus game. Nothing to be disappointed about, we are just flying high.”

The Lady Warriors were eliminated from State in four games last week, dropping game one, 17-25, game two, 18-25, and game four 14-25. Tehachapi appeared to have turned the match around in game three winning, 28-26. “We had a lot of fire, (after game three) but it was like a roller coaster. We got really tired and they are a pretty solid team,” Lady Warrior Sarah Horcher said of the loss.

Horcher led the Warrior offense all season and last week's game was no exception. She finished with 17 kills, five blocks, 16 digs and 22 returns of serve.

Cerritos and Tehachapi were evenly matched with similar records and power hitters. The Warriors were in all four games until the end with the difference allowing Cerritos a victory may have been a few miss-communicated plays.

“We had a few too many errors at crucial times,” White said.

Tehachapi had the edge in State playoff appearances, with Cerritos making their debut.

“This was uncharted territory,” Cerritos Coach Khanh Vo said. “We didn't know what to expect.”

Cerritos used three powerhouse players to score 48 of the Dons' 50 kills in the match. Tehachapi logged 49 kills by six different players including Horcher with 17, Kelsey Kapitzke with 10 and Sarah Carpenetti with eight.

At the net the Lady Warriors Persephonie Devereaux and Jasmine Julye's blocking kept the Dons at bay. At the service line Kapitzke, Jami Lankin and Shelby Flick each logged six points for THS.

An undefeated season was the paramount highlight of 2009 for the Lady Warriors. The icing on the cake included defeating Bakersfield Christian, in their gym, for the first time ever in regular season play and then repeating the victory, at home, to secure their first solo South Sequoia League title. The Lady Warriors shared co-championship in 2005 with Arvin, ending the season with 9-1 records.

Firsts also included the Warriors' number one seeding in the Central Section Div III playoffs, Tehachapi's eventual victory, in three games, over the defending champions, Exeter and the Lady Warriors first ever game victory at the State playoff level.

The Lady Warriors will say goodbye to seniors Sarah Horcher, Kelsey Kapitzke, Paige Woodward, Sarah Carpenetti, Jami Lankin, Shelby Flick, and Persephonie Devereaux.

“It was a very rewarding season,” Coach White said. “We set our goals to win SSL and CIF. This was a great and exciting journey with a great group of girls.”

The Lady Warriors awards ceremony will be held at the THS cafeteria on Dec. 6, at 6:30 p.m.