Win over Ramona gives Warrior spikers winning record

A March 28 win at Ramona High School gave Fallbrook High School’s volleyball team a 3-2 overall record for the season.

The Warriors swept the Bulldogs, winning the match’s three games by scores of 25-20, 25-16, and 25-18.

“The team really stepped it up,” said Fallbrook coach Tom Saunders.

In actuality, the members of the team who were present that afternoon made up for the lack of four starters. Setter Erick Sampson rolled his ankle during a March 1 scrimmage; although he returned to practice on March 23 he did not play against Ramona. Opposite hitter Alex Samuelson broke his hand in mid-March and is expected to be out for six to eight weeks. Two other starters weren’t at school for the March 28 half-day and missed the team bus, making middle blocker Marcus Taylor the Warriors’ only starter from 2006 to start against Ramona (2006 projected starter Antoine Wilson, who was injured before the start of the 2006 season and did not return to play until the final week of the regular season, also played against Ramona).

Ramona also played the match with only one returning starter; the Bulldogs graduated three senior starters in 2006 while one of last year’s starters was lost to academic ineligibility and an injury has prevented Derek Bishop from playing. Junior setter Stephen Spieker is Ramona’s only returning starter. “We’re just young and inexperienced and small,” said Ramona coach Jeff Klauda, who saw the Bulldogs’ record fall to 3-7 with the loss to Fallbrook.

Saunders and Klauda are both Valley League assistant coaches during the girls season. Saunders is the Escondido High School assistant coach under head coach Lori Becker, and Klauda assists Ramona girls head coach Connie Halfaker. Ramona had faced Fallbrook during a five-way scrimmage March 5 at Poway High School, but Saunders and Klauda had not faced each other as boys head coaches in a regular-season match prior to the March 28 contest.

“It was weird,” Klauda said. “It had a little bit different feel, but at the same time a game’s a game and you want to go out and play well.”

While Klauda and Saunders had previously faced each other in league competition as assistant coaches, the March 28 match was not a league contest. “They’re all pretty important,” Klauda said. “You always want to go out and play well.”

Klauda and Saunders spoke before the game about their teams, but the conversation didn’t include the girls season. Saunders also chatted with Halfaker before Klauda arrived in the gym after concluding administrative matters.

The North County Conference, which includes the Avocado, Valley, and Palomar Leagues, arranges cross-league matches prior to the season. Schools can opt out of the cross-league match, but neither Saunders nor Klauda wished to cancel the Fallbrook-Ramona contest.

For Ramona, the match was an opportunity to see how the Bulldogs played against a highly-regarded Division I school. “We really did not play well. That was kind of a disappointing game,” Klauda said. “We came out a little flat, and the guys started getting a little frustrated.”

Fallbrook had lost to San Pasqual in three games during a March 26 match. Ramona had no matches earlier in the week and had worked on blocking and defensive positioning during practice. “They weren’t able to translate it in the game,” Klauda said.

“They were working hard, but I think the frustration boiled over a little bit when they weren’t able to execute,” Klauda said. “Things just snowballed.”

Ramona’s inexperience in volleyball history – only two Bulldogs played club volleyball in the off-season – also gave Ramona’s players little knowledge of Fallbrook outside hitter Taylor Hughes. The Bulldogs soon learned that the 6’6” Hughes is more

than Heather Hughes’ younger brother; Taylor Hughes played up to the level of his sister, who earned first-team all-conference honors for Loyola Marymount University in 2006 and reached her 1,000th career kill as a junior.

“I don’t think they had any kind of an answer for Taylor when he gets going,” Saunders said. “It was pretty much going to be our way for most of it.”

Hughes had 16 kills and four service aces in the three games against Ramona. Cory Clark, who is normally a defensive specialist, had seven kills as an outside hitter. “Seven kills is a good number for not hitting normally,” Saunders said.

Bryce Dornan, who is replacing Samuelson, had six kills. Marcus Taylor had five kills. Kyle Chaisson, who is the team’s setter until Sampson returns, had 28 assists and three service aces.

The absence of four starters allowed some reserves to see significant playing time. “They came in and took care of business,” Saunders said. “With four people gone it opens up some spots.”

Ramona had an early lead in the first game before Fallbrook captured the lead midway in that contest. “They knew the game; they knew what they were doing,” Saunders said of Ramona’s players.

“I think they’ll bounce back,” Klauda said of the Bulldogs. “It’s just one of those growing pains.”