Royals end Spartans' surprising season in semis

The Strathmore volleyball team’s first season in the East Sequoia League ended Tuesday night with the Spartans falling to the Mission Prep Royals in three games, 25-12, 25-11, 25-15, in the Division V semifinals.

Despite Strathmore’s loss to the San Luis Obispo team Tuesday night, the Spartans finished their season third in the ESL with a 14-13-1 (3-5 ESL) record.

“I am so proud of these girls. The season was leaps and bounds ahead of what they did in the past,” Spartans coach Julie Chapman said. “We got third in league and made it to playoffs and won a game in the playoffs.”

The Royals entered the playoff matchup with a 12-8-1 overall record. Mission Prep is a freelance team that doesn’t play in a league.

The visiting team outplayed the Spartans and cruised through the third game with mostly second-string players to conclude their sweep over Strathmore.

“Well, Mission Prep is a private school and they had some excellent athletes, girls that look like college players,” Chapman said. “It’s hard to compete against a team when their shortest player is taller than our tallest player."

After losing the first game 25-12, the Royals jumped out to a 6-0 lead over the Spartans in the second game.

The Spartans were unable to recover from the hole they were in and were only within five points of the Royals one time, 9-4.

After the Royals completely controlled the start of the second game, they turned it up a notch and took a 10-point lead over the Spartans, 20-10. Within minutes, Mission Prep locked up its second win of the night and led the Spartans 2-0.

“Our girls got a decent number of points on the board and played excellent defense. We just don’t have the blocking we would need to compete with that kind of team,” Chapman said.

With its season on the line, Strathmore entered the third game needing to elevate its play in hopes of rallying back.

Strathmore was playing well in the third game, taking a 5-4 lead over the Royals. It looked as if the Spartans had a second wind until Mission Prep went on a seven-point scoring run, bringing the score to 14-6.

Chapman called a timeout, attempting to allow her team to recover. The Spartans continued to play tough throughout the remainder of the third game, but were unable to keep up with the pace Mission Prep had set.

“The majority of the girls are coming back (next year) so hopefully next year we will see an improvement over this season and be in the playoffs again,” Chapman said.