THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

Coming into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship game, No. 1 seeded Roseville had beaten Whitney seven consecutive times dating back to 2015. However, Saturday night the Wildcats changed up their game plan and knocked off the Tigers in three sets. “My team just had a lot of heart today,” Whitney head coach Brian Ball said. “We had a lot of good practices leading up to this game and we changed some things up because we had lost three straight games to this team.” The ‘Cats came in as the visiting team, although the usual neutral championship site turned out to be at No. 2 Whitney. “It was huge,” Ball said on playing at home. “It is so nice playing at home and having that familiarity.” Coming into set one, Whitney knew they would have to get out to a fast start to get the crowd into the game and they did just that by taking the first set, 25-20. “We made adjustments to Roseville’s great hitters early on,” Ball explained. “They have a few hitters that have really carried them through the playoffs and we had to stop them to be successful.” The second set was a dogfight. With both teams not giving an inch and the score was knotted at 25, Whitney made big plays down the stretch. A big kill, followed by a Roseville hitting error gave Whitney a 27-25 set victory and put them up 2-0 in the game. With the Tigers on the ropes in the third set, they got out to a slim advantage, but ran out of gas. With championship point on the line, Whitney setter Daniel Sharrah set Nico Saboonchi. Saboonchi swung angle and it deflected off a pair of Tiger blockers and went out of reach of Roseville Libero Parker True to win the set at 25-23. The set win gave Whitney the sweep and also, most importantly The Sac-Joaquin Section Championship. “This feeling is unreal,” Whitney senior Nico Saboonchi said with a smile. “Roseville has beated us every time since my freshman year and it was crazy to come into the championship and sweep them how we did.” The win was sweet for Whitney, notably because of last season when Roseville beat them section championship game in three sets. “Today was definitely a revenge game,” Saboonchi admitted. “Being able to finally beat Roseville, especially in the section championship is just unbelievable.” Leading the Wildcats in offense was Saboonchi who, despite a strong Roseville defense, went on to have a monster game. Also, Whitney setter Daniel Sharrah racked up many key assists in the win for the Wildcats. “We couldn’t have beat this team without just one player stepping up,” Ball confessed. “Our setter called a beautiful game and our hitters hit his sets very well.” On the losing end, Jacob Cole led the offense with 12 kills followed by Nick Johnson with nine. Brian Nuevo had 26 assists for the Tigers. Both teams will continue their season in the state playoffs. Last year, Roseville managed to go all the way and win the Northern California Championship game over Bellarmine College Prep in four sets. Whitney fell in the first round to the Bellarmine. This year, No. 7 seeded Roseville will play at No. 2 Bellarmine in the first round of the state playoffs. “Today’s game isn’t all about the loss,” Roseville head coach Cole Williams explained. “We will learn from this game and use it when we play again on Tuesday in the state playoffs.” No. 6 Whitney, despite the win, will also have to pack their bags for a road game against No. 3 Monte Vista. “We will have to rest up after a game like this for the next one,” Ball said. “We have to come out and have some good practices because from this point it doesn’t get any easier.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

WHITNEY SWEEPS ROSEVILLE FOR SECTION TITLE

CAMERON SALERNO

Placer Herald | 5/21/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Placer Herald