ANAHEIM — With its championship hopes on the line, Esperanza’s boys volleyball team relied on its composure in the decisive moments of the CIF-SS Division 5 semifinal match Saturday night.
The Aztecs went on a 5-0 run to end the match and earn their first trip to the CIF-SS finals since 2014.
Esperanza defeated Newbury Park in five sets, 25-12, 25-17, 19-25, 21-25, 16-14, at Esperanza High.
The Aztecs (20-11) will face Kennedy in an all-Orange County final on Friday or Saturday, May 16-17, at a site to be announced.
Kennedy beat Vista Murrieta in four sets in the other Division 5 semifinal Saturday night.
Despite trailing 14-11 in the fifth and deciding set, Esperanza coach Jordyn Griggs believed in her team until the very end.
“One of the last things I said to the boys was, ‘what a privilege it is to be an Esperanza Aztec and especially part of this volleyball program,’ ” she said. “These boys are like a brotherhood and I don’t see many comebacks like that very often, you know, 11-14 in the fifth. That’s pretty heavy and deep to come back from, and I don’t see many teams do it. But I did have faith that this team could do it just based off of the heart they have.”
Senior opposite Carson Dyer stepped up to the service line with the Aztecs trailing 14-12 after a great swing by Aztecs senior Ty Lemmon, which stopped the Panthers’ first match-point opportunity.
“Carson is one of our most accurate servers and I was so grateful that it was him back there,” Griggs said. “Obviously we got a little lucky with a couple calls here and there that helped bridge that gap just a little bit. But I’ve seen these boys come back from deficits, and so there was a part of me that was a little nervous that maybe we were gonna get stuck and the only reason we would, would be a lack of confidence somewhere, not any kind of lack of skill.”
Dyer’s ace tied the game 14-14 before the Aztecs completed the comeback with two more points to win the match.
“I’ve never been in this situation before, so that was my first thought and you know, all glory to God,” Dyer said, “that’s what gave me my strength to get back there and serve how I did. The Lord just kept me calm. I just breathed, and I served the ball and we won the game.”
The first two sets were all Esperanza, and it was on the verge of a sweep but the Panthers settled in and utilized 6-8 opposite Caleb Eschenberg (18 kills) more in the third and fourth sets.
“He did definitely show up in those two games and he was awesome,” Griggs said. “He definitely had me worried there for a while, but my two biggest blockers are my outsides (Will Preston and Tyler Lemmon), and so I have a lot of confidence in my defense on the left side of the court because of that.”
Newbury Park was seeking its first appearance in a CIF-SS final.
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