Volleyball: The Gregory School turns back Patagonia, 3-2

October 20, 2015 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Devin Johnston had 15 kills for The Gregory School.
(Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

It's been ten years since Patagonia qualified for the state playoffs. That's a decade of frustration that will certainly end next week but The Gregory School made sure the Lobos would have to wait a bit longer to celebrate after beating Patagonia 3-2 (23-25, 26-24, 12-25, 25-22, 18-16) Tuesday night.

Patagonia visited The Gregory School with a chance to claim the Division V, Section II championship and the automatic berth to the state playoffs that goes with it. At 8-0 in the section, a win would have given the Lobos the title over St. David (6-1) with only one section game remaining on their schedule. There was no way the Tigers could have caught them since their sole loss was to the Lobos.

Conversely, The Gregory School (6-2) was on the edge of qualifying for the playoffs after making back-to-back appearances under Angela Vande Mheen. The match became a must-win situation for the Hawks.

Janessa Leon Guerrero is the only senior on the Hawk roster this fall. The setter was uncertain going into the night.

"It was stressful, to be honest," Leon Guerrero said. "We have a lot of young players with potential but Patagonia is a good team."

Patagonia is a good team. The Lobos are ranked No. 4 in the state and the Hawks are No. 15. Both rankings are sure to change on Wednesday morning when the new rankings come out.

Patagonia took the first set 25-23 thanks to seven aces. It was an issue that would haunt The Gregory School all night. The Lobos would ultimately record 26 aces in the match but it is wasn't enough with The Gregory School coming back from several deficits.

Down 22-17 in the second set, the Hawks went on to win it 26-24. Patagonia had a 24-23 lead but a net violation turned them away. It would not be the last time a violation would hurt the Lobos.

"Our girls work hard but the losses we have had is because of what we do to ourselves," coach Stephanie Padilla explained.

"Sometimes we coast against teams that we should be beating. Gregory is a young and talented team and they fought hard to the end," she added.

Patagonia dominated the third set 25-12 and built a 13-7 lead in the fourth set only to have The Gregory School go on an 8-2 run to tie it up 15-15. Leon Guerrero served up a couple of aces and Elena Acuña added a couple of kills and The Gregory School was up 20-15.

But Lily Wharton responded with a couple of kills and Christina Novack had two aces of her own and it was all tied up 20-20. Instead of crumbling, the Hawks responded.

Devin Johnston went wild. The Cienega transfer threw down three kills and a couple of blocks and The Gregory School took the fourth set 25-22.

The fifth set pretty much summed up the whole match. Patagonia built a 4-1 lead only to have The Gregory School tie it up 5-5. Patagonia went up 8-5 but the set would get tied up again, 8-8.

It looked like Patagonia was finally going to runaway with the set after building a 13-9 lead but The Gregory School tied it up again, 13-13.

Annabelle Somoza put Patagonia up 14-13. It was the first championship point of the match but a net violation tied it up again. Somoza put Patagonia up 15-14 on another kill for the second championship point but a long hit tied it up, 15-15.

Wharton gave Patagonia a 16-15 lead for the third shot at a section championship but another long hit tied it up again. Then another miss gave The Gregory School a 17-16 lead and then Johnston gave the Hawks the 18-16 win.

"We talked about this match since last week,"  Vande Mheen said. "We went over what holes we needed to fill and who we needed to block to win this game."

The Hawks still have to get past Bisbee (1-7) and Duncan (5-2) to make the playoffs a reality. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for The Gregory School.

"We are very young,"  Vande Mheen added. "I have one senior and I put five freshmen on varsity. It has turned out to be an exciting season."

Duncan is currently ranked No. 6. The Gregory School will host No. 48 Bisbee on Thursday and the travel to Duncan on Saturday. Saturday is also ACT test day so Leon Guerrero will not be available.

"I have faith in my team," Leon Guerrero added. "They won this one for me, I know they can do it again."

As mentioned before, Patagonia is still in control and the Lobos should have a section title in hand when they host No. 27 Academy of Tucson (3-4) on Oct. 29.

"This team has what it takes to get us to the next level," Padilla added. "At Patagonia we get what we get and not everyone was meant to play volleyball but this team is ready."