Warriors fall in NCS VB playoffs

Lose 25-13, 25-11, 25-13 to Pirates

SAN ANSELMO  — The end of the line for the Del Norte High girls varsity volleyball team took place Wednesday night in Northcoast Section playoff action.

Playing the Sir Francis Drake  Pirates of San Anselmo, the Warriors lost 25-13, 25-11, 25-13 in the Bay Area in a first round NCS Division III playoff game.

Del Norte, the No. 12 seed, had trouble from the start against the No. 5 seed Pirates and lost the first game by 12 points.

Warrior co-coach Pablo Lorenzi said a problem was the team struggled mightily with its serve-receive and had trouble getting the ball to the hitters all night.

Several times during the contest Del Norte would come back from a six or seven points deficit to get it down to two to three points, with the Pirates always able to get the lead back up.

“When we were on we could play with them,” Lorenzi said, “but we were too sporadic in our play.”

He added that he believes the Pirates were the best team they had seen all year.

To compete with a squad like that, Lorenzi said, a team has to bring its  ‘A game,’ which did not occur Wednesday night.

While the Warriors were disappointed with the loss, Lorenzi said it does not take away from what the squad has done this year.

This season has been a special one for the Warriors, which earned their 21st straight Big 5 Conference title with a 7-1 record, despite returning only two starters and four seniors.

Del Norte finished the year 16-12 overall while Drake improved to 30-4.

“I’m really proud of the progress they have made from where we were to start the season to where we are now” Lorenzi said. “I’m proud of them  for stepping up and making sacrifices to keep the title.”

Senior Kristen DeBacker led the team with seven kills. She also had one ace.

Senior Paula Rhodes had five kills and one ace while senior Lexie Nelson finished with four kills and three aces.

Junior Brilynn Welch had 10 digs.