Warriors finish boys volleyball season with 11-15 record

An 11-15 overall season record, including a 3-7 mark in Valley League play, didn't give Fallbrook High School's boys volleyball team a CIF playoff berth but did give the Warriors their best record since 2008.

"They did extremely well," said Fallbrook coach Chip Patterson. "They've got to be extremely proud that they're making progress."

Last year's team finished the season with a 5-20 record, and the Warriors were 0-12 in Avocado West League competition. The Warriors were winless in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Fallbrook won two non-league matches in 2010 and one non-league match in 2009.

The 2008 squad was the last Fallbrook team to reach the playoffs. That year the Warriors were 6-2 in Avocado League play for second place in the final standings, and Fallbrook's 15-7 overall record in 2008 reflects a first-round win and a second-round loss in the CIF Division I playoffs.

In 2013, the CIF transitioned from playoff divisions based on school enrollment to divisions based on competitive balance. This year Fallbrook was in Division III for playoff purposes.

"They almost made CIF," said Patterson.

Fallbrook's league record placed the Warriors fourth in the six-team standings, ahead of Valley Center and Mission Vista.

"That's the good thing," said Patterson. "It was kind of an up and down season."

Four players left the team two days before Fallbrook's March 9 season opener – two departed for work activity, one was struggling with grades, and one left due to family matters.

Fallbrook opened the season with eight players on the varsity roster, and for the first time in several years, the Warriors had enough players for a junior varsity team. Isaac Maxwell, who was the most veteran player on the Warriors, left in mid-season.

"We had to bring up two players from the JV," said Patterson.

That left junior Justice Patterson as the team's most experienced player.

"The team was carried by Justice," said Patterson.

The team finished the season with two seniors: Jake Klingsberg and Ford Culallad, who is a transfer student.

"For Ford, this was the first year he ever played volleyball in his life," said Patterson. "[Ford] and Justice carried the most weight."

The team had five non-seniors, not including the two call-ups from the junior varsity. Patterson expects to add some current 2016 freshmen to next year's varsity.

"Hopefully they are ready," he said.