THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

Call them giant killers, the comeback kids or whatever pops into one’s mind, but Whitney High again shocked the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I volleyball playoffs by defeating Del Oro Tuesday, 3-2, in a semifinal match. The match started as one would figure with a No. 6 seed going on the road to play a No. 2 seed. And the Golden Eagles flexed early taking sets one and two 25-17 and 25-21. But momentum began to shift in set three. Whitney head coach Bruce Honberger heaped a lot of praise on the play of Del Oro and then described the changes the Wildcats had to make. “We had to make some adjustments after sets one and two so we kind of switched up a little of our blocking assignments and that was a big key, and tried to put a little more serving pressure on them,” Coach Honberger said. “I just kind of told them to stay the course; believe in what we’re doing; believe in the system. I’ve played in a ton of volleyball matches where we’ve lost the first two and came back to win.” Whitney picked up six big blocks in the third set and laid down a dozen kills. Hammering the ball were Nico Saboonchi, Danny Sharrah, Will Bebinger and Matt Honberger. The ‘Cats took an early lead, but the Eagles came back to tie the set at 13-13, after a timeout. Del Oro’s Dawson Fugate, Logan Cole and Ashton Pancoast stepped up to the net and appeared to take back the momentum, but it proved elusive. Whitney battled back to go up 16-13 and held that lead to eventually claim a 25-20 victory. The fourth set was a donnybrook. “We started playing with a little bit of energy, a little bit of mojo and that made a huge difference,” Bruce Honberber said. “Will Bebinger played phenomenal; Matt (Honberger) played great as well. I was super happy with our seniors.” Matt Honberger, Bebinger, Jaxson Haynes and Saboonchi began rattling the rafters with kills, as the Wildcats went up 17-13. But the gold-and-black battled back behind Fugate and Pancoast to knot the match at 22-22. But defensive errors began to plague Del Oro as Saboonchi caught the Eagles off guard with two well-placed kills to give the ‘Cats a 26-24 win. Locked at two games apiece, the two clubs came out in the final set and traded the first couple of points. But the momentum was in Whitney’s court, as the Wildcats pulled out to an early 8-2 lead. The Golden Eagles were able to cut that lead to three, 10-7, but that is as close as they would get. Saboonchi, Matt Honberger and Bebinger combined for 11 kills, as Whitney wrapped it up game-set-match 15-9. Saboonchi had 15 kills in the contest, Honberger 14, Bebinger 12 and Danny Sharrah nine. Sharrah also had 59 assists. Haynes, Bebinger and Saboonchi had three blocks apiece, and Sharrah and Honberger added two each. Pierce Thomasini had three aces and Saboonchi two. Tomasini received 32 volleys, Bebinger 27 and Honberger 26. Tomasini had seven digs, Honberger six, and Haynes and Sharrah had four each. Almost like ironic poetry, Whitney will return home to play the championship match set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday. After defeating the No. 3 seed (Jesuit) and No. 2 seed, the ‘Cats now get No. 1 – Roseville. “One thing we’re super happy about, we thought at the beginning of the season the (Capital Valley Conference) was the best league,” Coach Honberger said. “And the (Sierra Foothill League) got a lot of credit. Now look who’s standing. “We’re going to give Roseville a hell of a game; we’re going to bring in a crowd; we’re going to have some fun and we’re looking forward to it.” The Tigers defeated No. 4 Nevada Union 3-0 Tuesday to advance to the championship match.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

WHITNEY DOES IT AGAIN AS NO. 2 DEL ORO FALLS

JIM LINSDAU

Placer Herald | 5/17/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Whitney High School Athletics