There is no questioning the fight and determination of the Providence High girls’ volleyball team.
The Pioneers played each and every point with the same intensity.
Unfortunately, they could not overcome one big factor Wednesday night when they hosted Wiseburn-Da Vinci High in a CIF Southern Section Division 6 quarterfinal match.
The visiting Wolves had a significant height advantage and used every bit of it to earn a 25-16, 25-13, 25-22 victory over Providence.
“They were able to receive pretty much better than most of the teams we’ve seen all year. When we can’t score on our serve, it just makes it very tough because our front row is very short,” Providence coach Samvel Tozlian said.
Providence (22-13) started the match by taking a 3-0 lead thanks to kills from Nasiyah Chapman and Gigi Aves.
But then the visitors (19-15) began to get into the match behind the play of Callie Merill, Alina Hunter and Gabrielle Kim.
Melania Adjamian and Kailey Ho had kills later in the game.
Providence went up 7-5 in the second game on a block by Chapman. But once again the Wolves took over the game and went on to cruise 25-13.
Unfazed by the score, Providence came out in the third game and took an early 4-1 lead.
A serving ace by Adjamian made it 8-6 for the Pioneers.
Providence’s Sarah Swinhart served up a pair of aces later in the set to cut the deficit to 18-17.
“We made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes in the first couple of sets, but in the third set it was a lot of hustle and a lot of grit,” Tozlian said. “They were really good on the other side of the court. They made it tough for us with that front row. We’re not used to seeing that much height in the front row.”
