LOMA LINDA – Sophomore outside hitter Lily Dyer led visiting Saddleback Valley Christian’s girls volleyball team to a 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-11 triumph over Loma Linda Academy in the CIF-SS Division 3A semifiinals Tuesday night’.
“We thrive on fifth games,” said Dyer, who came up with 19 kills and three blocks.
SVC (21-8) will be going to the final for the fourth consecutive year, and trying to win its third CIF-SS title. (The Warriors won 4AA in 2013 and Division 3A last year.)
The Warriors will face Templeton in the final on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Rio Hondo College.
There was firepower coming from both sides – Loma Linda’s Demari Webb (19 kills) and Kaitlyn O’Brien (11 kills) and SVC’s Dyer and 6-4 middle blocker Shannon Geraty (11 kills, 4 blocks).
“Their digs were awesome, almost unbelievable,” Dyer said of Loma Linda’s players. “We really had to adjust to that.
“But one of the things we do well is to get serious in tough situations.”
Loma Linda (23-5) was squaring off against the defending CIF division champions.
Dyer said the Warriors started building momentum in the fourth game. Loma Linda won the game, but the Warriors went from trailing 16-5 to pull within 24-22 before losing on Dyer’s errant attack.
In the end, Loma Linda lost on its own mistakes – four service errors and two attacking errors in the final game.
