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Brentwood Press - DiscoveryBayPress_05.09.08 - Index

MAY 9, 2008 SPORTS THEPRESS.NET | 3B
Deer Valley doubles up
by Jennifer Birkland
Correspondent
Tuesday night’s four-game victory over
De La Salle not only improved the Deer Valley
High School boys volleyball team’s Bay
Valley Athletic League record to a perfect 16-
0 and clinched sole possession of the league
title, it also proved to the host Wolverines
that they were indeed ready for the playoffs.
Deer Valley’s 25-20, 22-25, 28-26, 25-18
victory boosted its overall record to 24-5 as it
heads into the postseason North Coast Section
Division I playoffs next week with backto-back
league titles under its belt.
The Wolverines jumped out to a sixpoint
lead in the fi rst game behind junior
Shahir Wahidi’s hot hand from the line of
service. The Wolverines rode that cushion to
a game-one victory. “We couldn’t have asked
for a better start,” said Deer Valley coach
Lou Panzella. “That set a nice tone for us.
We didn’t have to worry about the scoreboard;
we could just play each point.”
Game two saw another quick start for
Deer Valley, but soon the Wolverines fell into
what Panzella called a “lull,” to trail 24-21.
A missed De La Salle serve gave Deer Valley
possession of the ball and they capitalized
for the win.
“These guys don’t get caught up in the
score,” Panzella said of his players. “They know
they can’t change what’s already happened and
so they just go out and play each point from
there. I think it was key for us to come back and
win that second game, just to prove to them
that they are capable of anything.”
Deer Valley points were harder to come
by in game three, when De La Salle got hot
on offense. But the momentum shifted once
again in game four as the Wolverines sealed
the match victory.
“De La Salle was pretty good. They
gave us all that we could handle,” Panzella
said. “I’m proud of our guys for what they’ve
accomplished. They defi nitely exceeded my
expectations coming into this season. If you
would have told me in mid-February that
we would be 16-0 with an automatic bid to
North Coast, I probably wouldn’t have believed
it. But they deserve it; they all worked
very hard this season.”
Before the match, Deer Valley’s three senior
players were honored in a special Senior
Night ceremony. Outside hitter Kyle Brawley,
setter Mark Cadwallader and libero James
Higgs presented their mothers with fl owers
before taking the court in their last regular
season match.
Panzella will fi nd out Saturday what
seed his team earns in the playoffs, which begin
Tuesday, May 13.
To fi nd out what seed the Wolverines are
given on Saturday and where they’ll play on
Tuesday night, visit www.deervalleysports.
com and click the Boys Volleyball icon.
To comment on this story, visit www.
thepress.net.
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