Cubs Beat League-Leading Panthers in Four Sets
Cubs coach Stephen Bernabe hoped momentum from Mayfield’s second place finish at last week’s Tournament of Champions in Arizona would boost his team’s confidence heading back into league play.
They got enough momentum to beat the current Prep League leaders.
Behind a breakout twenty kill performance from junior Maddie Reed (#2), the visiting Mayfield Cubs (12-10-1, 5-2 in league) beat the Polytechnic Panthers (10-5, 5-1) (25-15, 18-25, 25-19, 25-15) Friday afternoon in Pasadena. The Cubs played without injured starting setter Ellie Watkins and needed a special performance to make up for her absence. They got one from Reed.
“I think the crowd, like having all my friends on the sideline, and everyone supporting and cheering me on, got me pumped up,” said Reed, who recorded eight of her twenty kills in the third set alone. Reed also highlighted the communication among her team’s attackers and back line, saying that she found gaps in Poly’s defense thanks to her teammates’ vigilance. “We knew that they were gonna be running slow balls, so we knew how to time our blocking and make our game fast,” she said.
Senior Andrea Raymundo (#14) started in Watkins’s place and contributed five kills and solid back-line defense. Her most impressive plays came on unexpected tips, confusing the Poly blockers and setting up Mayfield’s hitters for later attacks. “My hitters are just doing so well that [the defense doesn’t] expect a tip coming,” said Raymundo, “and I tip to make sure my hitters have an open net to kill the ball.”
The Panthers struggled attacking in the first set, but found opportunities at the net in the second. Sophomore Alexis Pappachan (#25) led the team with ten kills, while juniors Halston Harper (#25) and Natalie Clark (#15) each recorded eight kills and three blocks. “They’re experienced,” said Poly coach Steve Beerman, “and they’ve been in games like this before, so they are able to channel their energy in a positive way and perform.” Though he thought his team lacked offensive consistency, Beerman believes the loss could be a positive experience. “It was good playing a team at such a high level…what we learned is that we’re still not where we need to be.”
It was Poly’s first big home game of the season, and fans from both sides provided rowdy support. “We’ve been waiting for this game this whole week,” said Raymundo, “and a ton of our classmates came out, and they really brought up the energy.” Though Raymundo and Reed praised the cheering, Beerman thought the raucous crowd may have overwhelmed his young team: “It was fun to have a crowd…and I thought our inexperience showed that way also, just the mental focus it takes to play through challenging moments.”
With the loss, the Panthers fell to second place behind Westridge in the Prep League, and will host rivals Flintridge Prep next Tuesday at 3:45 P.M. Mayfield looks to break a third-place tie with Chadwick at home next Tuesday at 5:30 P.M.
