Warriors miss volleyball playoffs by one position

Fallbrook High School’s girls volleyball team began the 2014 season by winning four of six matches at the Sept. 5-6 San Diego Fall Classic tournament. The Warriors’ participation in that tournament ended with a loss to Carlsbad in a second-day elimination match.

That loss to Carlsbad also ended Fallbrook’s season when the Nov. 8 CIF playoff selection and seeding meeting gave Carlsbad the 15th seed in the Division I playoffs while Fallbrook was ranked two positions behind the Lancers. Valhalla was given the 16th and final seed.

“We thought we would make it in there, but it turned out we didn’t,” said Fallbrook coach Chip Patterson.

Last year, the CIF replaced enrollment-based playoff divisions with competitive-based divisions; the top eight teams were placed in the Open Division and the next group of teams competed for Division I playoff berths.

In June, the CIF modified the format to select the Open Division teams from among all Division I teams. The top eight Division I teams thus were assigned to the Open Division playoffs with the next 16 teams given Division I playoff activity. The CIF uses power rankings as the primary factor for playoff selection, and Fallbrook was 25th in the Division I power rankings.

The power rankings replace more subjective playoff selection criteria but include numerous factors. “It’s new to me,

” Patterson said.

Only one of Fallbrook’s Valley League opponents was also in Division I. Mission Vista, which defeated Fallbrook twice in league play, earned the 14th seed in the Division I playoffs. Fallbrook’s other two league losses were to Ramona, which was given the top seed in the Division II playoffs. The only other Valley League team to be invited to the CIF playoffs was Orange Glen, who finished last in the six-team league but received the 11th seed in the Division IV playoffs. Valley Center is in Division II for playoff purposes and Oceanside is in Division III.

Fallbrook’s 6-4 Valley League record placed third in the standings. Patterson noted that he was disappointed with third place if it didn’t produce a playoff berth. “The goal was to make CIF,” he said. “It gives you something to build off of next year, but I’m not going to say I’m happy with it. I’m happy with the girls that they tried.”

Both of Fallbrook’s wins over Oceanside were in four games, and power rankings factors include games won and lost as well as matches won and lost. “It hurt that we didn’t beat Oceanside in three,” Patterson said.

A 25-15, 26-15, 25-13 sweep of Orange Glen on the Patriots’ court Nov. 4 gave Fallbrook a 6-3 league record and a 10-9 overall mark, but the Warriors closed out their season Nov. 6 with a 25-13, 25-9, 25-11 loss at Ramona. “The scores were disappointing,” Patterson said.

“It was surprising that the scores were that lopsided because Fallbrook actually played very well,” said Ramona coach Connie Halfaker.

“They were a good team. I can’t take anything from them,” Patterson said of the Bulldogs. “They played extremely well. They played like a team should play.”

Patterson noted that the Bulldogs won most of the rallies. “They played great defense,” he said. “They never gave up on balls.”

The San Diego Fall Classic was Fallbrook’s only tournament of the season, which may also have been to the Warriors’ detriment in terms of the power rankings. “We only played one tournament and a lot of other teams played multiple tournaments,” Patterson said. “That was my choice because I didn’t want to wear these girls out.”

Last year, Patterson was an assistant coach for the Fallbrook program while Robin Reese was the head coach, and the 2013 Warriors played nine matches in five days consisting of two Avocado West League matches and seven ASICS Challenge tournament competitions. In 2012, the Warriors had tournaments on consecutive October weekends in between league matches and played 16 matches in a 12-day period.

Patterson doesn’t regret his decision to limit the Warriors’ tournaments. “We sustained enough injuries throughout the season. We didn’t need to take any more,” he said.

At no time were both of Fallbrook’s returning all-league players fully healthy. Middle blocker Brooke Bishop was bothered by knee problems throughout the season and missed the early matches of the season. Outside hitter Kendra Dahlke played hurt in the San Diego Fall Classic and, after the Warriors’ next match, Dahlke and Patterson agreed that she would sit out the rest of the season to avoid worsening the ailment, so by the time Bishop had recovered the team had lost Dahlke. “That didn’t help us,” Patterson said.

Outside hitter Emma Christopherson and libero Ellen Allison also had knee injuries during the season. “They weren’t getting better,” Patterson said. “Once you get that injury you need that time to heal, and if you don’t have down time you’re not going to get that time.”