MODESTO — The Sierra Timberwolves’ run in the Sac Joaquin Section Division III playoffs ended in the semifinal round Wednesday evening with a hard fought 25-23, 25-22, 25-15 loss to the No. 1 seed Beyer Patriots.
“I feel so much pride for the way this team fought not only tonight, but all season long,” Sierra head coach Danielle Deerinck said. “This match was much closer than the way it ended, and we were able to hang in with a really good team and give ourselves a shot at a finals appearance.”
A third-place finish in a tough Valley Oak League earned Deerinck’s young Sierra (19-9) squad with No. 12 Rio Linda and No. 4 Christian Brothers set the Timberwolves up with a matchup with the Patriots (28-6). The two teams met back in February in a match that saw the Patriots win in four sets.
“We knew coming in that they were a really good, well-coached team,” Deerinck said. “It was important that we got off to a good start, which we were able to.”
Sierra got the start Deerinck was looking for in the first set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead early after some strong offensive play at the net from outside hitter Ole Schmidt (seven kills). The Timberwolves were able to fight off Beyer throughout much of the first set and led the Patriots late 17-12 before Beyer outside hitters Brett Bird and Sebastian Trujillo were able to get going. A Jordan Sao Rodriguez ace tied the set for the first time at 21-21 before Beyer would pull away with kills from Bird before a Luke Rossi smash helped the Patriots come from behind and steal the first set.
“I thought we put a lot more pressure on ourselves than we needed to tonight.,” Beyer head coach Carl Wheeler said. “Credit to them, they came out with a lot of intensity, but offensively, we made things a little more difficult on ourselves early on than you would like.”
So often after a team gives up a lead and drops an emotional first set, you see the same squad come out flat in the second. Deerinck’s Timberwolves showed the fight that earned them the appearance in the semi-finals however, jumping right back out to a 17-11 lead in the second set. Setter Toan Do (19 assists) was integral in helping Sierra on another hot start as he spread the ball to Julio Vargas (four kills), Christian Mahabad (three kills), and Thinh Huynh (four kills) to help put Sierra in a place to make it 1-1 in the match.
Wheeler would take a timeout with Sierra on a service run to try to quell momentum.
“In those spots, you just try to remind them that if we drop this set, we are likely going five and it’s a complete different match,” he said. “The timeout there is more so just meant to slow momentum on their side, and luckily, it worked out for us tonight.”
Beyer won back the serve on the next point, and let by Bird and Trujillo went on a run of their own to capture the second set 25-22 taking the air out of the Timberwolves.
“They were really good closing out sets,” Deerinck said. “They have some hitters that they were able to get going and ultimately made just a few more plays than we did.”
With all of the momentum on their side, the Patriots were able to jump on Sierra early in the third set cruising to a victory to seal the sweep and end the season for the Timberwolves.
“Obviously, I am crushed for how things ended for this team, but there is so much to be excited about for our program moving forward,” Deerinck said. “We have a young team and a stacked JV team that will be coming up next year to compete for playing time. so things are looking up for us, for sure.”
For Beyer, a matchup in the final with second-seeded Ripon Christian awaits.
“I coach a bunch of their guys at the club level and know what they are capable of,” Wheeler said. “We believe we are one of the best defensive teams in the area, and we’ll need to play that way if we want to win a section championship.”
The Division III final will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday at Consumnes River College.
