Warrior spikers win Scripps Ranch Tournament consolation bracket

Fallbrook High School’s boys volleyball team won the consolation bracket of the Scripps Ranch Tournament.

The Warriors won six of eight matches during the tournament, including all five matches and all ten games during the tournament’s second day. Fallbrook won the consolation bracket with a 25-19, 25-12 victory over Mira Mesa in the finals April 19.

“It was a good day. A lot of volleyball,” said Fallbrook coach Tom Saunders.

The Scripps Ranch Tournament April 18-19 began with pool play April 18, and Fallbrook’s pool at Rancho Bernardo High School also included Valhalla and Cathedral Catholic. “It ended up being a tough pool,” Saunders said. “Those are very good teams.”

The top two teams in the pool advanced to the championship bracket while the other two spent the second day in the consolation bracket. “One of us got eliminated from the championship bracket,” Saunders said. “When you put too many good teams in one pool, someone is not going.”

Fallbrook ended up being the pool’s third-place team. The Warriors opened pool play with a 25-23 win over Valhalla, but the Norsemen’s 25-16 victory in the second game forced a third and deciding game which produced a 15-11 Valhalla triumph. Cathedral then took 25-22 and 25-21 victories against the Warriors.

Fallbrook’s final match in pool play was against Escondido. During the girls volleyball season Saunders is an assistant coach for Escondido, and his North County Volleyball Club team practices at the Cougars’ gym following Escondido’s boys volleyball practice. “I see them every day,” Saunders said.

Saunders would see the Cougars twice in the tournament, and in pool play the Warriors took 25-19 and 25-13 wins over the Cougars to secure third place in the pool.

Fallbrook’s second day of play sent the Warriors to Mar Vista High School, where they would open and close with matches against Mira Mesa. The seeding match resulted in Fallbrook’s 25-14, 25-19 win over the Marauders.

In the first round of single-elimination bracket play, Fallbrook earned 25-21 and 25-18 wins over Santa Fe Christian. The Warriors faced Oceanside in the quarterfinals and prevailed by scores of 25-20 and 25-13.

Fallbrook and Escondido then played a rematch in the semifinals. The Warriors’ 25-14, 25-16 victory sent Fallbrook to the consolation finals for the second time in three years. Escondido settled for a subsequent win in the third-place match while Fallbrook’s win over Mira Mesa gave the Warriors a better result in the consolation finals than their three-game loss to Mission Hills in 2006.

Fallbrook’s two wins over Escondido also differed from the 2006 tournament, where in pool play the Cougars defeated the Warriors in a three-game match.

“We just kept playing well enough to win,” Saunders said.

“We pretty much had everybody right where we wanted them,” Saunders said. “Nobody got to 20 twice against us.”

Fallbrook outside hitter Taylor Hughes was named to the all-tournament team.

The tournament wins gave Fallbrook an 11-4 overall record, which included wins in the Warriors’ first three Avocado League matches.