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Warriors two sets short of volleyball league championship share

Fallbrook High School's girls volleyball team came within two sets of sharing the 2015 Valley League championship.

The Warriors' final match of the league and regular season was at home November 6 against Ramona. The Ramona victory gave the Bulldogs the title outright while a Fallbrook win would have created a tri-championship with Fallbrook, Ramona, and Mission Vista sharing first place in the final standings.

"We came up short," said Fallbrook coach Chip Patterson.

Although the Bulldogs won the match in four sets, the contest was only the second in which Ramona had lost a set during league play. The result gave Fallbrook a final 7-3 Valley League record and third place in the standings. Ramona won the championship with a 9-1 record and Mission Vista had an 8-2 mark with Fallbrook accounting for one of the Timberwolves' losses.

"They played extremely hard. They improved from last year as a team," Patterson said of the Warriors.

Fallbrook's 11-11 overall record in 2014 included a 6-4 Valley League mark. Mission Vista finished second in the league standings, losing only two matches to Ramona, while Fallbrook's third-place record reflected two losses to Ramona and two defeats against the Timberwolves.

During the first round of league play this year Ramona was undefeated, Mission Vista lost only to Ramona, and Fallbrook's two losses were to Mission Vista and Ramona. The Warriors' October 21 match in Ramona was a 25-17, 25-19, 25-23 Bulldogs victory. "They were a very strong opponent. They had just really, really good defense," Ramona coach Connie Halfaker said of the Warriors.

Fallbrook began the second round of league play October 23 with a 25-18, 25-12, 25-15 home win over Oceanside. The Warriors then hosted Mission Vista on October 26.

Fallbrook's five-game victory at home this year gave the Timberwolves their first loss to any team other than Ramona since Fallbrook replaced Del Norte in the Valley League as part of the 2014 North County Conference realignment. "Beating Mission Vista, that was a step in the right direction," Patterson said.

Fallbrook required a 27-25 overscore to prevail in game one. The Timberwolves then took 25-22 and 25-18 victories. Fallbrook evened the match with a 25-21 triumph, and play concluded with a 15-9 Warriors win.

"It took them five games. It could have happened in four," Patterson said. "We made mistakes at crucial times."

The match results gave Fallbrook and Mission Vista two league losses apiece.

A home victory October 28 over Orange Glen consisted of 25-17, 25-17, and 25-23 sets. That day Mission Vista gave Ramona the Bulldogs' first league loss since 2013. The Timberwolves' five-game victory moved Mission Vista and Fallbrook to within a game of the Bulldogs.

The Warriors spent October 30 and October 31 at the Monte Vista Varsity Tournament and won their first five matches before losing to Montgomery in the championship final.

"The tournaments really helped us," Patterson said.

Fallbrook's other tournament was the September 18-19 Firebird Classic in which the Warriors finished with four wins and four losses. "They can hold their heads up high and know that they competed all year," Patterson said.

The Warriors resumed league competition November 4 with a 25-9, 25-12, 25-9 victory at Valley Center. That win created title implications for the November 6 game against Ramona.

"The Fallbrook girls wanted it a little bit more the second time around they played Ramona. The first time around, the games were all close," Patterson said.

"It was a close match the last time we played them," Halfaker said of the Warriors. "They're a real good team. They beat Mission Vista."

Ramona began the match with 25-20 and 25-19 victories. Fallbrook then won the third game by a 25-23 score. The fourth game was tied at 20 points apiece before Ramona pulled out a 25-21 triumph.

"We should have beat Ramona both times we played them," Patterson said. "We have to improve in situations. When we get in certain situations we have to be very mindful."

The match against Ramona was the final contest in Fallbrook for four Warrior seniors: libero Ellen Allison, right side hitters Chelsea Hranek and Mary Kressin, and defensive specialist Heidi Lona. "I wish we could have got them a league championship," Patterson said.

What the Warriors were able to get for their seniors and for the other players was a CIF playoff berth, which eluded Fallbrook in 2014. "That's a positive," Patterson said of returning to the playoffs.

The CIF playoff selection and seeding meeting November 7 gave Fallbrook the 12th seed among Division II teams. The Warriors traveled to Otay Ranch for a November 10 game against the fifth-seeded Mustangs.

Otay Ranch began the match with a 25-14 victory. Fallbrook countered with a 25-21 triumph in game two.

The Mustangs prevailed by a 26-24 score in the third set. "We had them in the third game and we let them back in," Patterson said.

Otay Ranch advanced to the finals with a 25-19 win in the fourth game. The loss finalized Fallbrook's overall record at 17-13.

"We have the ability, but it's the mindset that we have to change," Patterson said.

If correcting mistakes is the key to the Warriors' success, working on that for 2016 could provide a similar improvement as this year's squad achieved over the 2014 performance. "We get the opportunity next year to fix it," Patterson said. "Next year we'll be a better team."

 

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