REDLANDS – Redlands High boys volleyball coach Daryk Mall may not have slept soundly on Friday night.
If Mall tossed and turned, it was probably because he dreamt about Kennedy of La Palma’s No. 16 Seth Sainz in a green jersey, rising from the hardwood to high point the ball, and slam it to the ground.
Kennedy's Logan Benda tried to sneak one past the Terrier wall. (Photo: John Murphy)
Sainz was the difference in Kenndy’s 25-21, 25-17, 25-22 victory Friday night over the Terriers. The Fighting Irish victory in Redlands' ancient Girls' Gymnasium came in the second round of CIF-Southern Section Division 5 play.
“He was so tough,” Redlands’ Leon Siahaan said. “He jumps super high, and his arms are super long. He hits the ball at a high point.”
Kennedy coach Travis Warner didn’t know Sainz before he enrolled.
“He’s pretty good.” Warner said. “We call him the gentle giant until he gets on the volleyball court, then he’s an animal. But he’s the nicest kid I’ve ever met. He was a kid we found his freshman year in a PE class. One of the teachers came and told me about him. I looked at him and said, ‘Do you want to play volleyball?’ He never played in his life. But freshman year he started playing it and he fell in love with it.”
Sainz led all players with 22 kills.
“He was a big boy,” Mall said. “He played fantastic. He has a high contact point. We got a few blocks on him. But in times where he was able to get ahold of it on a high contact and swing those deep swings, that was where we struggled the most.”
Philip Shin puts one down for the Terriers. (Photo: John Murphy)
Redlands led the first set 19-18 until Kennedy scored four consecutive points to take a 22-19 lead. The last two of those points came on Sainz stuff blocks.
The Terriers scrambled back to within 22-21, but Kennedy scored the final three points on another stuff block by Sainz and two kills from Temai Greening.
Redlands trailed Kennedy 21-17 in the second set when the Irish scored the last four points to close it out. A bad Terrier serve and an error combined with two Greening kills did the damage.
Redlands trailed the third set 23-21 until a Sainz kill and a Terrier violation ended things. The Terriers hugged in front of their bench following the season-ending loss.
“I’m going to think about all the good memories we had and all of the hard work we put in,” Siahaan said. “I gave everything I had for these people. These are my best friends.”
Redlands celebrates winning a point. (Photo: John Murphy)
Siahaan switched from setter to right-side hitter during the season and the move paid off for the Terriers (18-9).
“I had a blast,” Siahaan said. “Coming into the season, I wasn’t playing the position I expected. But the coach trusted me. The energy we had was unmatched. Out of my three years, we’ve never had a season like this one.”
Setter Collin Namsang also excelled for the Terriers.
Kennedy (16-11) will now meet host California in the quarterfinals.
A third-generation San Francisco native. His first job was in Watsonville, where he wrote stories on a typewriter and people smoked in the office. He's covered Redlands, San Bernardino and Riverside.
