Next man up.
With Lathrop senior libero Tristen Rower sidelined due to injury, his freshman understudy Andreis Ricaldi, was forced to step up Friday night — and step up he did.
Ricaldi patrolled the back row with a vengeance and hustled out 16 digs for the No. 3 Spartans in a 25-15, 25-16, 25-20 sweep of visiting fifth-seeded Twelve Bridges in quarterfinal action of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III boys volleyball playoffs at Greg Lelend Gym.
“I couldn’t have done it without the support of Tristen Rower,” Ricaldi said. “He is our main libero, and he couldn’t make it today, and without his help I wouldn’t be here.
“He made me do those digs, and he gave me the confidence and the motivation to do better.”
Lathrop coach Toa Fa’ali’i saw something throughout the year in Ricaldi.
“He’s really good,” Fa’ali’i said of Ricaldi. “Normally, he’s a right back or a DS (defensive specialist), but he’s been really good throughout the season serving and passing, so I figured he would do good at libero. He’s a trooper.
“I have to give all the credit goes to my boys. The seniors — Gabe (Fa’ali’i), Jorge (Reyes) and Mark (Llorin) — they have been awesome this whole season. They were on full display today. And thanks to Twelve Bridges for the drive they made here.”
The first and third sets belonged to the Spartans (26-6) with two ties in the opening set and the Raging Rhinos (17-9) of Lincoln trailing the entire third. The second set was a little different with eight ties and three lead changes.
Reyes dished out 28 assists.
“I think we did pretty good,” Reyes said. “We had some mistakes in that second set though.
“I need to be a little more consistent on my sets.”
Gabriel Fa’ali’i dominated the net with 19 kills along with four aces and three digs.
“After all the work over these last four years this feels kind of surreal,” Gabriel Fa’ali’i said. “My sophomore year, we also played Twelve Bridges in the semis, but I felt more comfortable this time around.
“Credit to Twelve Bridges – they did amazing, but I’m glad we were able to pull through.”
Lathrop’s Jayden White added six kills and three digs with Lorenzo Palomares chipping in two aces and two kills and Llorin tallying three kills and two blocks.
The Spartans travel to Ripon Christian on Wednesday night to take on the second seeded Knights at 6.
