ONTARIO — One practice in a span of nine days wasn’t ideal for Ontario Christian girls volleyball coach Paige Liebhart and her team.
However, on Tuesday night in a key Ambassador League girls volleyball match against first place Linfield Christian the Knights rose to the occasion and overcame that hurdle with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-21 win that created a three-way tie for first place in the league standings.
Linfield Christian ended Ontario Christian’s 67-match league winning streak when the teams squared off last month in the league opener.
Tuesday’s win preserves Ontario Christian’s chances of an eighth straight league championship, three shy of the current 10th longest streak in CIF Southern Section history.
“We looked really clean tonight despite the layoff, which was really impressive to see,” Liebhart said. “With Dakota (Zieman) graduating, it’s been a collaborative effort offensively that’s coming together at the right time. Avery Kunkel and our back-row defense also deserve credit tonight for the way they played against a good Linfield Christian offense.”
Ontario Christian (5-8 overall, 3-1 in league) fell behind 5-2 in the first set with a pair of attacking errors and a ball-handling error. However, they rallied to take a 13-10 lead off a kill from Addison Culbert that forced a Lions timeout. Linfield Christian (10-3, 3-1) trailed 16-14 after a kill from Aubrey Yanover, but a 7-0 Ontario Christian run, capped by Shirley Ornelas’ roll shot to the deep corner, gave the Knights the opening set.
“We were a little rocky in the beginning but pulled it together and got ourselves a big win,” said Culbert, who finished with eight kills..
Ontario Christian setter Avery Van Horssen kicked off the second set with an ace and added a kill that rolled along the tape before falling on Linfield Christian’s side to help the Knights race to a 10-5 lead. Yanover attempted to rally the Lions with four kills and an ace, cutting the deficit to 12-10, but it was too big of a hole to rally from as Ontario Christian took a 2-0 lead.
“We’ve stressed not playing for the streak but playing as a team and letting things fall where they may,” said Van Horssen, who had 20 assists along with a pair of aces and four kills. “I felt like tonight was our best performance of the season, and it couldn’t come at a better time.”
Yanover, Grace Toth, Paige Boyer, and Zoey Renno combined for 48 kills in the first matchup, but each were held to single-digit kills in the rematch.
“Digging big hitters like them is fun,” said Kunkel, Ontario Christian’s libero. “Tonight was about getting back to the fun of volleyball, and you could see the energy pick up with every long rally and every swing.”
Linfield Christian hung around for much of the third set and only trailed 10-9 after a kill from Toth. But Ontario Christian went on a 12-5 run and held a 22-14 lead following an ace by Ornelas. The Lions staved off five match points on an ace from Mia Delacruz and three kills from Boyer but ultimately fell in the third.
“We just didn’t pass very well tonight despite trying a myriad of things, and when that’s not there it’s going to be a struggle,” Lions coach Eric Hawes said. “We have to forget tonight and make sure we’re focused tomorrow with a good Woodcrest Christian side visiting us.”
The teams are tied with Woodcrest Christian with matching 3-1 league records. Linfield Christian hosts Woodcrest Christian on Wednesday night, while Ontario Christian plays the Royals on the road Thursday night.
