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Brentwood Press - AntiochPress_05.02.08 - Index

MAY 2, 2008 SPORTS THEPRESS.NET | 3B
Patriot comeback
a coach’s dream
by Jennifer Birkland
Correspondent
It was the kind of match that Heritage
High School boys volleyball coach
Bess Haldi had always hoped to be a
part of. The kind that pitted her Patriots
against their cross-town rival Liberty Lions,
and in dramatic fashion taught her
players what they’re capable of on and off
the court.
Having beaten Liberty in four games
in their fi rst clash of the season, the Patriots
headed into the Lions’ Den on April
24 for a rematch that lived up to its billing.
Heritage scraped together a 27-25
victory in game one but fell behind 24-11
in game two. And then it happened. A
Liberty error gave Heritage possession of
the ball, the Patriots pounced on the opportunity.
Heritage junior Mike Favolora
knocked down four straight aces with
his specialty jump serve. “It’s such a hard
serve to receive,” Haldi said. “It starts
with a lot of top spin, then it fl oats for a
while and at the end it looks like it’s coming
right at you but it ends up turning left
or right.”
Behind Favolora’s hot hand and an
air-tight Heritage defense, the Patriots
stormed back, scoring 10 straight points
to earn the 26-24 game-two victory.
“We basically played error-free volleyball,”
Haldi said. “Michael (Favolora)
served a great game and our defense didn’t
let anything drop. It was the type of game
that coaches dream about.”
Game three saw a confi dent Heritage
team earn the 25-15 win to improve its Bay
Valley Athletic League record to 7-5 with
four matches remaining. Liberty’s record
fell to 4-9.
“This match taught my players to believe
in themselves,” Haldi said. “For them
to maintain their composure and deny
them that second game really showed them
that they can overcome incredible odds.”
Favolora fi nished with six aces, three
kills and two digs. Heritage setter Kyle
Jones made 12 digs, 10 assists and four
kills. Tanner Cook contributed fi ve assists,
four kills and two aces while Stephen Richins
chipped in 14 digs and three kills.
Heritage took on Freedom and Ygnacio
Valley this week after the Press went
to print. The Patriots wrap up their regular
season with matches against Clayton Valley
on May 6 and De La Salle on May 8.
To comment on this story, visit www.
thepress.net.
Put her in the book
Photo by Jolly Hanson
Freedom’s Hina Kaleialii, shown here putting the shot against
Ygnacio Valley at a meet in which she took fi rst place in both
the shot put and discus, set a new school shot put record of
33 feet, 9 inches at the recent Phillips-McCain Invitational. Kaleialii
was one of four Falcons to take fi rst in varsity events at the meet, as
teammates Hunter Simpson (high jump), Trae Weeks (triple jump) and
Aimee Rodgers (300-meter hurdles) each outpaced the competition.