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    Peninsula boys volleyball falls short in Division 3 quarterfinal against El Dorado
    • May 2, 2024

    El Dorado’s Ryan Chia sets the ball during their away CIF Playoff game against Peninsula on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    El Dorado’s Ryan Chia sets the ball during their away CIF Playoff game against Peninsula on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    El Dorado celebrates a score during their away CIF Playoff game against Peninsula on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula’s Kyle Boger makes a netside block during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula’s Kyle Boger makes a netside block during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula celebrates a point scored during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula celebrates a point scored during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula’s Jaan Andersons smashes the ball during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula’s Drake Harris smashes the ball during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula’s Jaan Andersons smashes the ball during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula’s Kyle Boger smashes the ball during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula’s Tyler Hartley sets the ball during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    El Dorado celebrates a score during their away CIF Playoff game against Peninsula on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

    Peninsula’s Kyle Boger smashes the ball during their home CIF Playoff game against El Dorado on May 1st, 2024. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)

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    ROLLING HILLS ESTATES The Peninsula boys volleyball team made sure to do its homework leading up to Wednesday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3 quarterfinal match with visiting El Dorado.

    “We watched a lot of film and knew their guy was (Max Smith),” Peninsula’s Drake Harris said. “We tried to have two blockers on him. He was our main focus.”

    Smith finished with 16 kills, but Peninsula was unable to contain El Dorado’s other options before falling 17-25, 25-23, 21-25, 23-25..

    “(El Dorado) blocked very consistently and didn’t make a lot of errors. They’re very disciplined and made it hard for us to get kills,” Peninsula coach Kevin Williams said. “They’re a solid team and whoever gets them next, they’ll have a hard time dealing with them.”

    El Dorado (28-4) will face San Clemente in Saturday’s semifinals.

    Harris came out with energy from the outset, racking up kills on each of the Panthers first points of the evening.

    But El Dorado responded, going on a 15-point service run that turned a three-point Peninsula (16-10) lead into an 18-6 Golden Hawk advantage.

    Harris finished the opening game with six kills, but El Dorado countered with Kaiden Gerard (six blocks), Dillon Overbeck (four kills) and Trent Chaffin (three kills) while the Panthers committed eight errors. Gerard finished with eight kills and eight blocks while Overbeck and Chaffin had seven kills.

    Peninsula battled in the second game, taking a short-lived 19-17 advantage after one of Harris’ 10 kills in the second. But it was the play of Smith and Gerard that proved too much to overcome down the stretch.

    “We kept with our game plan and tried to pass better going into the second,” Harris, who finished with a game-high 27 kills, said. “We hit a little higher, which helped us too.”

    With its back against the wall and its season on the line, Peninsula came out in the third game with a renewed sense of urgency. El Dorado took a 10-6 lead following a pair of Panther errors before Peninsula responded.

    Peninsula went on a 6-1 service run, including a pair of Harris kills and Kenneth Won’s service ace.  El Dorado continued to battle, cutting it to a 23-21 Panther advantage before Harris and Andersons recorded kills on consecutive points to close out the third game.

    “We were really hyped up going into the third and we didn’t want the season to be over,” Harris said. “We have a lot of seniors on the team and were trying to play loose. In the first game we were tight, but got better as the match went on.”

    The Panthers kept pace in the fourth game. Kyle Boger’s service ace followed by Harris’ kill tied the game at 22, and Harris’ seventh kill of the game made it 23-23. But Overback’s block followed by Harris’ game-ending error helped El Dorado advance to the semifinals.

    “I think the key for us was not to get disappointed or discouraged and to get behind each other,” Williams said. “Something we preached all season was being a family, working hard for each other and being selfless in big moments. It’s all about being a better team and we took pride in that this season.”

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    ​ Orange County Register 

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