Bulldog volleyball handed second DFAL loss by first-place Wildcats

Alhambra senior Kyle Magtibay (pictured above) had 12 kills in the Bulldogs’ 3-1 loss to Dougherty Valley on Friday, April 29, 2016. (MARK FIERNER / Martinez Tribune)
Alhambra senior Kyle Magtibay (pictured above) had 12 kills in the Bulldogs’ 3-1 loss to Dougherty Valley on Friday, April 29, 2016. (MARK FIERNER / Martinez Tribune)

By GERARDO RECINOS
Martinez Tribune

While the dreams of the miracle season haven’t been completely dashed for the boys volleyball team, but they did take a tumble.

On Friday, April 29, the Bulldogs hosted the Dougherty Valley Wildcats with the two teams in a virtual deadlock for first place in the Diablo Foothill Athletic League. The only tiebreaker the Bulldogs had was a 3-2 win in April in San Ramon, but their 3-1 loss at home coupled with a shock loss to Las Lomas two days later will make it tough to win the league.

The Wildcats will need to lose one of their remaining two games left this season to send the decision for the league title into all sorts of tiebreakers, as the Wildcats could finish 23-5. The Bulldogs will need to beat Las Lomas and Acalanes in their final two games to finish 24-5 overall.

The Bulldogs did well to start the day off well and take the momentum by winning the opening set of the match.

Impressively the Bulldogs did so despite not leading for the entire set. The Wildcats lead throughout but at no point did they ever lead by more than four points.

The Bulldogs got good hitting from Kyle Magtibay in the opening set of the match. He had five of his 12 kills on the night in the first set. His kill was the one that tied the set for the fourth time.

Dougherty Valley had a miscue to allow Alhambra to take the lead, but it was a brief one, as Alhambra make a mistake to tie things up again.

But the Bulldogs got a kill from Christian Cota, and then were able to score due to a great dig by Alin Torio which kept a rally alive, eventually ending with Jerald Jionoran’s third kill of his 10 total.

Dougherty Valley won the second set, although it was closely contested by the Bulldogs.

Alhambra built up a five-point lead, but Dougherty Valley’s Thomas Nelson, a United States Volleyball international, rallied the team with excellent hitting. He had 19 kills on the night, and he was backed by teammate Jon Cavote, who had 21 himself.

From that point the Bulldogs would be fighting from behind and then could not come back.

In the third set, the Bulldogs were worked over by a dominant Dougherty Valley. Nelson and Cavote especially were tough to battle against, and Will Jochum was not at his usual brilliance from Alhambra in the third set.

In the fourth set, the Bulldogs took a lead for the third straight set, something that would be a bad omen, as they would lose their third set in a row. It was disappointing to say the least, especially because the Bulldogs once again opened up an early lead.

An 8-3 start evaporated thanks to kills from Andrew Um and a block by Shaurya Dubey.

Nelson’s spike tied things up at 11-11, and a miscue by Alhambra gave the Wildcats a lead they would only relinquish once before rallying to a tight win.

A serving error gave Dougherty Valley a one-point lead at 23-22, and a block and authoritative kill from Nelson allowed the Dougherty Valley Wildcats to take a huge step toward the DFAL title.

About Gerardo Recinos

Gerardo Recinos is a journalist currently living in Concord, Calif. He is a recent graduate of San Francisco State University, with a degree in Journalism (History minor). Gerardo covers sports throughout Martinez and Pleasant Hill. It's his lifelong mission to get people in the U.S. to stop calling football "soccer," and to call American football "handegg."

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