Sierra followed up one historic win with another on Thursday, as it stunned No. 4-seeded Vanden on the road with a riveting 25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 25-19, 16-14 victory in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs.

The No. 5 Timberwolves (18-8) advance to the semifinal round for the first time. Earlier in the week, the Valley Oak League co-champions notched their first-ever home playoff win.

They were able to survive the injury loss of Santino Flores, who got hurt during the fourth set. He finished with four kills and five digs.

“Emotions were high tonight, especially when it looked like it was slipping away, but the boys calmed down and dug deep when we needed it most,” Sierra coach Amy Rosendin said. “It was easy to see how much it meant to them that our season didn't end tonight.”

Vanden (24-6) had momentum on its side after taking the tightly-contested second and third sets. Sierra aided the Vikings with five service errors in game 3.

The T’wolves cleaned it up from the service line in the fourth set. Junior varsity call-up Samuel Mortenson helped fill in for Flores, providing pinpoint passing and a presence at the net in his varsity debut.

Owen Altadonna served out the final four points to clinch the set.

“Vanden clawed back all night, but that 5th set was our turn to prove we wanted it more,” Rosendin said.

Setter Primo Estandarte led the way with 36 assists, 17 digs, three blocks and two aces. David Caamano racked up 12 kills and eight digs. Middle blocker Gurpreet Singh had his most impactful match of the season with seven kills and three blocks. Altadonna added six kills, five blocks and two aces. Libero Austin Kim contributed 13 digs.

Kenji Arnold netted 17 kills, two aces and six digs for Vanden, which totaled 23 aces but had 20 service errors.

Sierra will travel to Grass Valley next Tuesday to take on top-seeded Nevada Union (28-6) starting at 7.