It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Pacific Ridge can now relate to. They fell just short of the Clairemont Chieftains by a score of 3-2 on Thursday. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Chieftains this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 2-0 back in March.
Pacific Ridge started the match hot and won the first two sets, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 23-25, 15-25, 25-21, 25-15, 15-13.
Safin Zaslansky paced Pacific Ridge's offense, picking up 30 kills. Zaslansky got some help from Jake Streitman and his 65 assists. Zaslansky also made an impact serving: he shared the team lead in aces with Brecken Armstrong, racking up two apiece.
Clairemont got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Gabe Tocco out in front who had 18 blocks and 13 kills. Tocco has been hot for a while, having posted five or more kills the last 32 times he's played. Makoa Miner was another key player, getting 24 kills and four blocks.
Pacific Ridge has traveled a rocky road recently, having lost six of their last eight matches. That's put a noticeable dent in their 18-19 record this season. As for Clairemont, their win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 24-10.
Pacific Ridge does not have any more games scheduled as of now. After both having extra time off, Clairemont and San Dieguito Academy will shake off the cobwebs and hit the court against one another at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
