Last season, Roman Payne missed the boys volleyball CIF San Diego Section Open Division semifinals after being invited to play with Team USA’s under-19 team.
His Carlsbad team lost in five sets to Cathedral Catholic.
Earlier this season, Payne lamented how crushing that was to not be there when it mattered most.
Sometimes vindication is a slow burn.
Playing with a renewed vigor, Payne refused to let his team lose a year later, leading the way to an epic 25-18, 25-23, 20-25, 15-25, 15-4 win over Torrey Pines on Saturday at Francis Parker that gave the Lancers their third CIF title in program history.
“It feels amazing,” said Payne, who finished with 17 kills and five stuff blocks. “We’ve been working up to this since Day 1. That was our goal since Day 1 was to win the CIF Championship. We knew we had it in us. We were No. 1 all year. For me to miss last year and come back this year, it’s a very surreal experience.”
Outside hitter Derek Bashford contributed 14 kills and three stuff blocks, and middle Oliver Doty had 13 kills for the Lancers (35-2).
It required a complete team effort to close out the defending Open Division champions, particularly after losing the third and fourth sets.
“I couldn’t be happier,” coach Annette Bashford said. “They really battled. We were challenged in a way that we had to answer. Looking at the season overall, being able to set goals from Day 1 and then to accomplish the goals feels amazing.”
Down 2-0, the Falcons (33-8) stormed back to force a fifth set with a defensive effort led by libero Griffin Dieter.
Torrey Pines was led by Ben Soudak, who had 17 kills and three aces, and Delclan Flanagan, who notched 13 kills.
“It shows the level we can compete at when we’re focused and dialed in and playing well,” Falcons coach Nick Rubacky said. “It’s one of the best teams in the country on the other side of the net and we were putting it on them in sets three and four. We know what we’re capable of.”
Carlsbad, the No. 4 team in the nation, lost its combination of high energy and confidence only to find it in the fifth. Payne’s stuff block to make it 4-1 came on a play in which he had three blocks. Bashford followed that with a stuff block and had four kills in the set. Doty’s kill in the middle sealed it.
“We’ve faced adversity all year,” Payne said. “All year we’ve been working hard to stay on top.”
Division 2
Clairemont def. La Jolla 25-23, 25-20, 25-27, 25-17: Of Clairemont’s 10 losses this season, six came to Open Division teams.
Battle-tested.
Clairemont showed a championship resolve in defeating La Jolla in the Division II championship match for the first title in program history.
“We came in with a lot of confidence just because we beat them twice, but that’s usually how teams fail when they’re overconfident,” Clairemont coach Sean Alcaraz said. “So we watched film, we studied, we recognized who does what, and they all came out and did their jobs.”
The Chieftains (26-10) advance to next week’s State Championship. They were led by Makoa Miner’s 13 kills and three stuff blocks. Sam Reedholm added nine kills, Grant Schmidt chipped in with eight kills and Sean Sumner had six.
The Vikings (18-23) got a match-high 17 kills from Ben Salmon. Myles Plaskonos added 11 kills and two stuff blocks. Nicolas Bardaro had eight kills and Zepher Smith six. Jake Morrison had five.
Division 4
Fallbrook def. High Tech Mesa 17-25, 26-24, 25-16, 25-16: One of sports’ oldest coach sayings goes something like, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Fallbrook went down a set and faced three set points in the second as its season hung in the balance.
But the Warriors scratched and clawed their way back, taking the second set and the next two to capture their first CIF title in program history.
“That’s what we struggled with at times this year, but we finished that set,” Fallbrook coach Chip Patterson said. “So we got it, and I knew from there we were going to win. Once you let us in, that’s generally how we play.”
Setter Gabriel Palacios consistently fed juniors Aiden Way, who had a match-high 12 kills, and Joshua Robertson, who added 10 for the Warriors (25-14). Jordan Anicete had six kills.
The Thunder (16-13) were led by Justin Farmer, who had 11 kills, two stuff blocks and two aces. Jacob Archbold added nine kills, and Jared Cruz and Curtis Wright each had seven.
