Another big step for Trojan volleyball team

<p>If Petaluma’s volleyball Trojans reached the heavens with their North Coast Section championship win over Redwood Saturday, they went completely into orbit by beating Rocklin in the first round of the NorCal regional tournament Tuesday night.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The Lady Trojans once again rallied from behind, prevailing in a five-set thriller 25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13.</p><p>“Again, it is about our attitude,” Petaluma coach Ben Stern said after his team’s second straight five-set victory. “We seem to do okay until the fourth and fifth set and then we come out an get tough.”</p><p>Although Petaluma with Kaitlyn Dunaway, Maddi Eshoo and Larissa Goodnetez has its share of big hitters, Stern said the difference maker in the big matches has been the defense.</p><p>“It has been our defense that is giving us a chance to win. Tonight we had some ridiculous touches.</p><p>The Lady Trojan orbit now spins them to San Jose Saturday where they will take on Archbishop Mitty, the No. 3-ranked volleyball team in the nation in a 7 p.m. match.</p><p>“It will be an exciting experience for our team,” the coach said. “It is a chance for us to challenge ourselves, because we know we have to play our best against the best.”</p><p>For the Petaluma seniors, the regional playoffs are just one more sweet taste in a season of sweetness that was earned with a lot of hard work and determination, stretching back two and, for a few, three years.</p><p>“We’ve wanted this since our freshman year,” noted Eshoo. “We knew if we worked together and worked hard, we would succeed.”</p><p>“We just play with a lot of heart,” said Dunaway. “We play hard on every single point.”</p><p>The tone for the game was set in the first intensely contested set. With the Petaluma gym absolutely swaying with noise and emotion, Petaluma, led by the thundering hits of Dunaway, who mixed in a few well-disguised taps, finally prevailed, 25-22.</p><p>“You have to play smart,” she said. “You just can’t blast everything.”</p><p>Petaluma seemed to lose some of its focus in the middle sets, as Rocklin, led by hard-hitting Corissa Santos, overcame a rash of early mistakes to win the second set, 25-19, and push Petaluma to near extinction with a 25-23 win in the third.</p><p>But Petaluma is best when faced with an ill wind. The Lady Trojans scored eight of the first nine points of the fourth set and, although Rocklin rallied toward the end, held on for a 25-21 victory.</p><p>Petaluma led from start to finish in the decisive fifth set, but things were beginning to look a little tenuous when Rocklin pulled to within 10-9, before season-long team leader Hayley Ross somehow made a shoe-top save of a Rocklin slam to prolong a rally won by Petaluma.</p><p>After that. there ws a double block, a Dunaway slam, a dink by Ross and finally a slam by Eshoo that sent fans, that included a large contingent of Petaluma football players, into a frenzy and the Trojans on their way to San Jose.</p><p>Standouts for Petaluma were numerus. Dunaway had 16 kills and Eshoo 14. Setter Ross had 40 assists. While Dunaway, Eshoo, Sarah Biasi and libero Jenna Bailey all contributed to a defense that at times almost willed the ball not to touch the floor. </p><p>Petaluma will face Archbishop Mitty with a 29-4 record. Rocklin’s Thunder completes their season with a 31-9 mark.</p>