SANTA FE SPRINGS — The St. Paul High girls volleyball team almost had a case of dejá vú Saturday night when it hosted Diamond Bar in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 quarterfinals match.
The Swordsmen (24-10), who went the distance in their previous match against Rim of the World after jumping out to a two set to none lead but let it slip away, fell behind early in the third against the Brahmas (16-11, 5-5).
St. Paul dominated the first set and hung on late in the second set against Diamond Bar. Senior outside hitter Alex Diaz believed the team was still perplexed over the letdown Thursday.
“Everybody was in their heads from the past game and it was just one of those things where you have to encourage each other to get out of each other’s heads,” Diaz said.
That certainly worked, and thanks to Diaz’ match-high 18 kills, St. Paul overcame a sluggish start in the third set to sweep Diamond Bar, 25-10, 25-23, 25-22.
“The whole team kind of let down again there in the third set,” Swordsmen coach John Van Deventer said. “Halfway through there we got serious again and pushed all the way through.”
The Brahmas jumped out to leads in both the second and third sets. In the latter, Diamond Bar got off to a 7-2 advantage but then the No. 2-ranked team in Division 5 showed why it’s so highly touted.
Diaz, who has recorded 316 combined kills this season, played a significant role in the ensuing 14-7 run that allowed the Swordsmen to grab the lead and pull away.
After senior middle blocker Hannah Tostado’s kill cut Diamond Bar’s lead to 14-10, Diaz took over by scoring the set’s ensuing six points (five kills, one block), giving St. Paul a 16-14 lead.
Momentum changed sides and the Swordsmen never looked back.
“She was just hot and we told our setters to keep feeding the hot hitters,” Van Deventer said. “It’s just our philosophy here at St. Paul. On any given day, we can ride anyone. We’ve gone with Hannah before, we’ve gone with Alex before. And, it works.”
For sophomore Diamond Bar coach Katie Swetnam, the Brahmas might have been thinking about the match too much, considering that they finished last in the Palomares League the past two seasons prior to 2017.
“They came in really nervous tonight,” Swetnam said. “Our team is like the Cinderella story of the season and we’ve been on a strong run for awhile. We played against St. Paul in the summer and a lot of our girls remember the offense that (it) has. We were nervous in the first set but after that we showed that our defense can handle it.”
Unfortunately for Diamond Bar, St. Paul’s one-two punch of Tostado and Diaz wer ultimately too much too handle.
Tostado chipped in 11 kills and five blocks for St. Paul, who will host Quartz Hill in the semifinals round Tuesday at 7 p.m.
