Warriors reach volleyball quarterfinals

For the first time in four years Fallbrook High School's girls volleyball team reached the CIF quarterfinals.

The Warriors finished the season with a 26-6 record including a first-round playoff win and the quarterfinal loss. Fallbrook's 6-2 Valley League record earned second place in the final standings.

"The season was very promising," said Fallbrook coach Chip Patterson.

Fallbrook earned the second seed in the CIF Division II playoffs and opened the post-season Nov. 2 with a home match against Montgomery.

"They did an outstanding job," Patterson said of his team. "It was really no contest."

The Warriors began the match against the Aztecs with 25-17 and 25-13 victories. That safe lead allowed Patterson to rest his starters and provide experience for his reserves in the third game.

"We wanted to give a lot of young players an opportunity to play," he said.

Montgomery still required a 26-24 overscore to prevail in the third set. Fallbrook advanced to the quarterfinals with a 25-23 victory in game four.

Eight of the 12 Fallbrook girls who played had at least one kill against Montgomery; Skyler Traut led with 14 kills and Emma Christopherson had 12 kills. Madison McCarty served for nine aces and Traut provided five aces. Traut had four solo blocks and three assisted blocks while all four of the blocks Mary Ellyn Brown recorded were solo blocks. Chyna Southwell and Morgan Alexander each had 21 digs. Patterson's 6-2 formation utilized both Southwell and Sprint as setters; Southwell had 19 assists and Sprint set for 17 assists.

Fallbrook had last won a first-round playoff game in 2012, when Robin Reese was the Warriors' coach. The Warriors defeated Otay Ranch that year and lost to Poway in the quarterfinals.

Fallbrook lost first-round matches in 2013 and 2015 and did not make the playoffs in 2014, which was Patterson's first year as Fallbrook's head coach.

Steele Canyon traveled to Fallbrook for the Nov. 5 quarterfinal.

"We kind of took them for granted," Patterson said.

Steele Canyon was seeded 10th in the Division II playoffs. The Cougars had defeated seventh-seeded San Marcos in the first round.

"We made a lot of mental errors," Patterson said.

The Cougars prevailed by a 26-24 score in the first game and won the second set by a 25-15 margin. Fallbrook won game three, and the 25-17 score was closer than the Warriors felt it should have been due to the team's belief that the referee didn't call a Steele Canyon touch when the Warriors had game point.

"We won that game, but it was a momentum killer," Patterson said. "They got frustrated and we didn't play smart. We started hitting balls out."

Steele Canyon's margin of victory in the fourth game was 25-18. The Cougars then took third-seeded Mount Carmel to five sets in the Division II semifinals before the Sundevils advanced to the championship match.

The Warriors won 20 matches in a season for the first time since 2011, when Peter Peng was Fallbrook's coach and the team had a 24-10 overall record. The two league losses to Ramona and the playoff loss to Steele Canyon were the only Fallbrook defeats against CIF San Diego Section teams. Montgomery hosted the Aztec Invitational tournament Oct. 7 and 8, and the Warriors won that tournament while extending their win streak to 10 matches although Ramona ended that streak in the Warriors' next contest.

"All the credit goes to the team for all the wins," Patterson said. "I will take the heat for all the losses."

Alexander, Southwell, Sprint, and Carleigh Proctor were the Warriors' only seniors this year. Patterson expanded the roster from 11 to 15 with junior varsity call ups for the playoffs, so the 2017 team could have 11 returning varsity players although Patterson noted that the junior varsity call ups would need to beat out other potential varsity players next year.

"Our big push this year was team," Patterson said.

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