Playoff-bound Hillcrest is still looking to get over the hump on the volleyball court when it comes to rival Woodrow Wilson.
The Lady Wildcats earned a sweep of the Lady Panthers on the road Tuesday (25-14, 25-17, 25-22), clinching the District 13-5A title in the process.
And while Hillcrest had been hoping to earn its first-ever victory over Woodrow after previously taking a set from the Lady Wildcats in their first meeting, head coach Candace Balderas-Miller believes the match will be a beneficial learning experience for her squad.
“I told the girls before the last set that this is really practice for the postseason,” she said. “Being down two sets is tough, but we expect our bi-district match to be a tough game. We don’t know what’s going to happen and who is going to take the first set. But if they take the first set, no matter what happens, we have to be able to fight back. I thought that they showed that they have that fight and now they know what that feels like.”
While Balderas-Miller was pleased with the fight she saw, she also believes her squad needs to show more urgency with its fight.
Hillcrest dug early holes Tuesday in each of the first two sets before Woodrow flipped the script and rallied late to take the third.
In the opening frame, Woodrow raced out to a 11-6 lead only to see Hillcrest chip away to within two points behind the service of Kailey Lara and terminations from junior Dartmouth commit Maia Tryon and senior Sophia Peabody-Bergh — who was honored prior to the match for eclipsing 1,000 career kills.
But Woodrow would close with the same fervor it opened, ultimately pulling away for a decisive 25-14 margin.
The second set played out in similar fashion with the Lady Panthers falling behind, 16-11, only to respond with four consecutive points prompting a Woodrow timeout.
Tryon had a pair of block-kills in the sequence, but Woodrow would take eight of the ensuing 10 points following the timeout to take a 2-0 lead.
The first four points on the final frame went the way of Woodrow, but this time Hillcrest answered early with a 10-2 spurt keyed by Tryon and junior Aubrey Norton.
“Maia is always running the middle for us,” Balderas-Miller said. “That was a pretty typical game for her. We had some others that were struggling a little bit, so we really needed her to take it to that next level tonight.”
The teams would trade points from there and were knotted at 21 apiece late, but consecutive shots into the net and a kill from Woodrow sophomore Amelia Kerski clinched the win and district for the Lady Wildcats.
“I think it takes us a minute to really get into our groove, and that’s something we’re going to have to do in the postseason is learn how to start fighting sooner,” Balderas-Miller said. “I thought we did that in the end, but we need to do it sooner especially against teams like this.”
Hillcrest has three matches remaining before the postseason kicks off Oct. 28-29. Up next is a home date with rival W.T. White at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
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