Vikings eliminate ESL champs in 5 games

The Strathmore Spartans lost a heartbreaker to the Kingsburg Vikings in five games, 3-2 (19-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22, 10-15) at home in the Division IV playoffs, Tuesday night.

Despite the early playoff loss, the Spartans finished the season the East Sequoia League champions with a 27-7 (7-1 ESL) record. They are also only graduating only two players following this championship season, Amelia Medrano and Denise Cabral.

“I am really thrilled with the season. This is Strathmore’s first league championship in something like 15 or 20 years,” Strathmore coach Julie Chapman said. “We are a tiny little school and we have to play in a league with schools two and three times our size. Tonight is an example; Kingsburg has at least two times our size.”

After splitting the first four games, the match came down to a season-deciding fifth.

The Vikings drew first blood when sophomore outside hitter Kristen Torres snuck a touch shot just to the left of Strathmore’s Maribel Bravo. Sophomore Nayeli Colunga was having none of it and answered back on the following volley, crushing a shot through the middle to tie it at one apiece.

Bravo then placed a shot in the back left corner to give the Spartans a 4-2 edge. Following two errors made my Strathmore, Kingsburg’s Amanda Hamlin smashed a shot through a hole in the to give the Vikings the lead back (5-4).

Chapman immediately called a timeout following the lead change, though it had little effect in slowing down Kingsburg, which scored two straight following the break in play. Strathmore began to rally back and pulled within one point after junior setter Liz Galvan tallied an ace, cutting the Viking lead to 9-8.

The Vikings began to roll after allowing the ace, however, scoring five straight to take a 14-8 lead.

Medrano picked up an ace of her own, cutting the Kingsburg lead to four, 14-10. In spite of the Spartans’ efforts, Torres clinched the win for the Vikings by placing a hard shot just within the back line, 15-10.

“They had one really excellent player (Torres) and she was really strong from the outside,” Chapman said. “If we would have been able to slow her down a little more then it could have changed the outcome also.”

Colunga racked up 19 kills and five aces on the night while fellow sophomore Bravo totaled six blocks and nine kills of her own.

“Nayeli is just a sophomore and she needs a little bit more experience so she knows when to hit with full strength and when to reserve and look for the open shots. We count on her, she is our offensive weapon and she did a great job,” Chapman said.

The Spartans started off slow in the opening game, dropping seven of the first eight points. Strathmore began to rally back, tying the game at 13, but it was too little too late and Kingsburg went on a six-point run. Colunga then smashed a shot through two Viking blockers to score on the right side, trimming the lead to four.

Kingsburg successfully fended off the comeback attempt and scored two straight points to end the first game.

“We tend to be a little nervous and come out a little tight. I don’t think we have had one great first game all season, but I was really proud of their effort and how they turned it around to play a great second game,” Chapman said. “I just wish the momentum from the second game would have carried over to the third game.”

Strathmore came out in game two warmed up and jumped out to an 8-3 lead. They continued to roll until the Vikings coach was forced to call a timeout after falling behind by five, 15-10. The timeout was ineffective in slowing down the Spartans, who handily took the second game 25-17 after Colunga scored on consecutive aces.

“It took us a little time to regroup and when we were on we played great. If we could have just eliminated a few of the unforced errors we would have been the victor,” Chapman said.

The Spartans came out strong early in game three, but faded near the end of a long, hard-fought game in which there was five ties and three lead changes. The Vikings broke a 13-13 tie and began to roll, winning the third game by three points, 25-22.

“I just feel that we just need one more year and we will have a different outcome at the end of the season,” Chapman said.