Tough day in Red Bluff

RED BLUFF — This time there were no hugs of happiness or emphatic cheers from the Sutter High volleyball team.

Instead it was stoic silence and the fighting back of tears.

On a day where the Huskies were gunning for a fifth straight Northern Section Division IV title, West Valley spoiled any notion of a celebratory Saturday by handing Sutter its worst loss of the season — a 25-18, 25-18, 25-21 stunner.

"I think they were the better team tonight," Huskies' coach Ann Reynolds said.

Fundamentally-fortified, the Eagles took it to the Sutter in all aspects. But where West Valley truly shined was with their blocking, which stymied the Huskies hitting enough to end their 17-game winning streak.

"The blocking was the best we've ever had," Eagles coach Carla Davis said

In all three games, Sutter (36-4) never strung together more than three points. Seemingly every time the Huskies would side out, an unforced error or a key play from the Eagles (34-8) would take their serve away.

"We couldn't make a solid run, they were strong," Reynolds said.

None of the Huskies would tally double digit kills. Brenna McDonald led the team with nine, Angela Dehaan had seven and Shaila Gidel added six.

While Sutter struggled to put points together, their opponents did so with ease.

In the first game, Sutter and West Valley traded points until the Eagles decided to impose their will with the score knotted at 11-11. Fueled by the serving of Taylor Ross, the Eagles rolled off a 7-0 to take a lead they would never relinquish.

The theme continued in the second game, were Sutter's only lead would be on the first point. After a kill from Gidel, West Valley methodically built up a 10-5 lead that would prove enough of a cushion to put Sutter on the ropes. In Reynolds' eyes, the uncharacteristic performance of her 11th grade laden rotation is a mixture of West Valley's skills and trepidation from players not used to performing on the larger stage, she said.

"I think we had some nerves," Reynolds said.

From the onset, West Valley looked confident and played with the swagger usually synonymous with Sutter. To net the 13th title in Davis' 26-years at the school, the veteran coach employs a substitution-heavy strategy that constantly brought in fresh players to go up against the Huskies.

For the second-seeded Eagles, the victory was truly a team effort, as every player received ample time on the court to produce a result that left their coach pleasantly surprised.

"No, I didn't expect to win in three," Davis said. "I thought we would win in five."

Playing in their Northern Section game before the state playoffs begin on Tuesday, Sutter's senior leaders did put up numbers similar to what they would rack up against Butte View League opponents. Libero Audry Durfor tallied 18 digs and Setter Kamalei Clifton dished out 28 assists.

With the Eagles on the verge of completing a sweep with a 21-17 lead, Reynold's used her final timeout, one last effort to try and slow down West Valley's imminent celebration.

"It's hard, you kind of run out of your bag of tricks," she said.