Warrior spikers share third in league; lose first-round playoff match to Poway

Fallbrook High School’s girls volleyball team finished the 2013 season with a 19-15 overall record, including a loss to Poway in the first round of the CIF Division I playoffs and a 5-5 Avocado West League record which gave the Warriors a share of third place in the final league standings.

The Warriors had a 4-3 league record prior to a pair of home losses Oct. 30 against Rancho Buena Vista and Nov. 5 against Carlsbad. During the three-game match against Rancho Buena Vista, Warrior setter Jessi Fagrell sprained her ankle, keeping her off the court for the rest of the regular season. Fallbrook’s junior varsity setter, Chyna Southwell, had torn ligaments in her ankle and was out for six weeks. “It was just the wrong position to have an injury,” said Fallbrook varsity coach Robin Reese. “We had no backup to our backup.”

Fallbrook defensive specialist Ellen Allison could also play libero, so Reese moved libero Tiara Siaton to the setter position. “Our whole system was kind of shut down,” Reese said.

Although Fallbrook defeated Carlsbad in three games Oct. 18 on the Lancers’ court, Carlsbad took a four-game win in the rematch.

Nov. 5 was also Senior Night; the Warriors had eight seniors on the 2013 squad. “Eight seniors is a lot,” Reese said. “Next year it’s like a whole new team.”

Fallbrook’s regular season concluded Nov. 8 with a four-game win over Vista. “It’s not the way the season should have ended, that’s for sure, but we managed,” Reese said. “It was frustrating, but we got through it.”

The Warriors swept Vista in the team’s Oct. 23 match in Fallbrook.

La Costa Canyon and Rancho Buena Vista each beat the Warriors twice in league play. Carlsbad and Fallbrook shared third place in the final standings as well as the wins in the two matches between the Lancers and Warriors.

The Nov. 9 CIF playoff selection and seeding meeting gave Fallbrook the #13 seed in the Division I playoffs. “We didn’t do as well as we should have in league, so I think that we were lucky to have made it to playoffs,” Reese said.

Fallbrook’s seed gave the Warriors a Nov. 13 first-round match at fourth-seeded Poway. “They’re a good team. They never give up on the ball,” Reese said.

Poway advanced to the quarterfinals against Point Loma with a 25-18, 25-6, 25-6 triumph over the Warriors. “We did a good job with them in the first game and then we just ran out of steam,” Reese said.

Poway subsequently advanced to the Division I finals before losing to Rancho Buena Vista in the championship match.

Reese noted that Fagrell had returned to the lineup for the playoff match. “We had played two weeks with a different lineup,” she said.

“We didn’t have the chemistry that we needed to play as a team, and it showed at Poway,” Reese said. “You can physically be a weaker team, but if you have good chemistry you end up on top most of the time. We just didn’t have that.”