With the first-round bye, head coach Susan Pescar and her Bruins were able to travel on Tuesday and see the Edison Chargers beat Newbury Park. On Thursday night, the fruits of labor starred as Wilson controlled the Chargers and swept, 25-16, 25-13, 25-17.
Still clutching her two full sheets of paper with the Edison rotations and attack tendencies, Pescar chuckled at people comparing her work to an NCAA coaches preparations. “We knew what we had to do,” said Pescar, referring to the fact that the Bruins gave the Chargers a taste of Moore League volleyball: tough service, and speed, speed, speed. “Tonight we did it… (the coaches) don’t have to tell (the team) where to set it, or when to roll it, because they just do it… the team is maturing.”
And it couldn’t be happening at a better time. The seniors know that and co-captains Kellie Woolever and Kellie Culbertson led the way as Woolever had 16 assists and Culbertson had 14 kills.
“(Woolever) is so consistent,” said Pescar. “She sets, she kills, she digs, she stays positive… she just goes, and it’s not fancy, it just works.”
In the first set, it was clear Woolever was looking for Culberson, and the Kellie’s hooked up for six kills, while Culbertson added an ace and two blocks in one of her best sets of the year. With the set tied at six, the Bruins used a few Charger attack errors, a Woolever ace and a big solo block from Rebecca Strehlow to go on an 8-2 run. They took the set, 25-16, and kept rolling in the second.
Despite six service errors in the second set the Bruins continued to bang it on the outside and would not trail again after going up 4-3, taking the set 25-13.
The Chargers showed life and went up 5-1 in the third set, but Wilson came back with great service from Candice Nicholson that helped spark an 8-1 run. Culbertson ended the night with a kill and a block to take the third, 25-17.
Milling around in the Wilson gym after the match, all anyone would talk about is the next round. “We don’t care who it is,” said Pescar. “We just have to beat them.”
The players were not as politically correct. Last season, Santa Margarita bounced the Bruins from the bracket in a painfully close match. With the Eagles beating Redondo last night, it sets up the rematch, and multiple Bruins said “off the record” that they wanted Santa Margarita, but not in so many words.
The Bruins are hoping they can avenge the loss, while the Eagles are hoping Pescar doesn’t have time to scout them. The quarterfinal match up will be in the Wilson Gym on Saturday night at 7pm.