WASHINGTON - Every great run has its finish line.
For California, that finish line came Saturday in the sectional round against Villa Duchesne. While the Pintos fell 25-13, 25-9 to a Saints team that simply had them overmatched, a final season record of 28-6-1 makes it hard to point to California's season as anything but a success.
"Our girls have accomplished a lot," Pintos coach Julie Bailey said. "It was an outstanding season. We knew coming here that it was going to be difficult to move on, but our girls worked so hard.
"They're a smart group of girls and they're very athletic and that's what took us this far. I can't say enough about their drive. It made them easy to coach."
Though it was the first appearance this deep into the postseason for Bailey and all of California's players, the Pintos did not appear fazed by the occasion as they battled Villa Duchesne point for point in the early stages of the first set.
"They came out pumped and they were motivated," Bailey said. "I think we played well in the first set. We had awesome passing and I told the girls, 'They're going to have blocks and kills, we just have to move beyond that and be ready to play,' and I think we were."
Midway through the first set, however, Villa Duchesne's size started to give the Pintos some problems. The Saints built up a five-point lead thanks to some good defense on California's front line hitters Cameron Meyer, Gracie George and Chloe Schenewerk.
"Their blocks were pretty powerful," Bailey said. "They neutralized a lot of our hitters. Cameron and Caitlin (Halsey) got several through their blocks, but for the most part, they were triple blocking."
Though Meyer started the second set with a big block to get California off and running, the Saints quickly responded to build another early five-point lead.
"In the second set, we got a little intimidated maybe," Bailey said. "It's just hard when you have that height difference. There's not a lot you can do about it. (Villa Duchesne) passed a lot better today than when we scouted them, so that helped them as well too."
The Pintos were never able to get close after falling behind early in the second set. Down 20-9, Bailey called a timeout, but the Saints were the team to respond stronger following the breather as they reeled off five straight points to clinch the win.
Though California will lose six players to graduation, this year's six-pack of seniors certainly made their mark. A 28-win season and a district championship has raised the bar for the program, and has next year's group eager to build on that success.
"We're going to miss our six seniors," Bailey said. "It's hard to replace that. We have a lot of talent with our underclassmen. I know they can accomplish as much as our seniors did, it's just going to be hard next year to start without them."