Prep volleyball playoffs: St. Patrick-St. Vincent falls in second round to Mt. Eden
May 8-Similar to its Tuesday playoff match, the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School boys volleyball team found itself tied after the first two sets. Unlike on Tuesday, the Bruins couldn't stop some pretty big hitters the rest of the way.
Mt. Eden outside hitters Devin Santos, Gianni Usison, and Areli Perez dominated in the third and fourth sets, leading the Monarchs to a 15-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-16 win in the second round of the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs.
The Monarchs advance to the quarterfinals to face top-seeded Miramonte, which beat Quarry Lane in a sweep on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Bruins' season ends with an overall record of 14-16. After the loss, St. Pat's head coach Danette Domecus discussed what Mt. Eden switched up after the Monarchs' first-set loss.
"It was a combination of what they did and what we didn't do. We passed really well and served great, and we played amazing defense," Domecus said. "But they switched their middle and put one of their right-side hitters as a middle, and they did a great job. Their hitters started swinging and being a little smarter, and started going over our shorter blocks instead of our big blocks. And then we just came out slow, and then they came out strong."
Domecus said after the second set, the Bruins changed their defense, but that they "just couldn't figure it out."
"They started swinging hard, and their serves froze us a little bit," Domecus said. "We didn't get the nice serve/receive passes we usually get. So that was hard because we're playing out of our system. That hurt. When we don't get our first swing, it hurts because we were giving them the opportunities and they were really feeling the confidence."
After winning the second set 25-18, Mt. Eden rode the momentum to take a 20-15 lead in the third set thanks to a kill by Usison. The Monarchs increased their advantage with kills by Usison and Elleijah Bersonda to make it 23-16.
St. Pat's wouldn't quit, getting back into the match with a kill from James Gentry that made it 24-21.
In the fourth set, Mt. Eden's Santos picked up two kills in a row, and after two aces in a row by Peter Largo, the Monarchs' crowd was loud and happy with an 8-1 lead.
Once again, St. Pat's fought back. After picking up kills from Vincent Rodriguez and Ethan Galarza, the lead was trimmed down to 11-8. The lead was just 16-13 for Mt. Eden after the Bruins' Gentry picked up another kill to trail just 16-13.
That's as close as St. Pat's would get. Santos picked up two more kills to make it 19-13, and kills from Bersonda and Usison on consecutive plays made it 22-16. An ace by Santos made it 24-16 before a kill from Jezum Guillermo gave the match to Mt. Eden.
As with every season-ending loss, Domecus explained it was sad to lose a few seniors and that she loved coaching the 2026 squad due to its high intelligence. The Bruins will lose five seniors due to graduation in three weeks.
"They are really good kids, and they work really hard," Domecus said. "It's been fun coaching them because they've come such a long way since the beginning. I'm so proud of them for growing their game. It's been fun just about every day at practice. But they're also such a smart team. I love having a team that is book-smart, court-smart, and gives 100 percent effort all the time."
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