Coach’s speech sparks Sundevils

Eldorado girls volleyball coach Kahealani Roston wouldn’t say what she told her team when the Sundevils fell behind two sets to none at Sunrise Mountain, only that it was “a little X-rated.”

Whatever she said, it worked.

Middle hitting duo Candace Watkins and Chelsea Sallander gave the Sundevils sole posession of second place in the Northeast League on Tuesday night, rallying their team to a 15-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 15-7 win over the host Miners.

“I basically told them that they have to play their game, take it one step at a time and block out the distracters,” Roston said. “The crowd was intense — I think that’s what got them.

“They had to play like they really wanted it, and they weren’t really looking like that in the first two sets.”

Sallander had 11 kills, three blocks and four aces, and Watkins finished with 15 kills, six blocks and three aces, most of them during the final three sets.

“I just move my feet quickly to get around, jump high so I can block, and then I trust my setter to give me a good set, and everyone else to give me a good pass so I can put it down,” Watkins said. “It’s just like they would trust me to give them a good pass so they can put it down.”

The senior team leader got a little help from setter Chelsea Upshaw, who had 20 assists.

The Sundevils overcame a slow start as Sunrise Mountain (6-7, 3-2 Northeast) dominated the first two sets.

The Miners breezed to a first-set win with six aces, including two each from Tiara Veal and Lenny Estrada, who had a match-high seven aces to go along with six kills.

In the second game, Veal dumped the ball over the net before Samantha Venable served an ace to give Sunrise Mountain a 22-18 lead it would never relinquish, with Veal dishing out the winning point to Elise Marshall, who finished with six kills and three blocks for the Miners.

But Watkins refused to let the Sundevils (6-8, 4-1 Northeast) give up.

“It lets us all know not to get down on ourselves, even if we are down,” Watkins said. “To keep fighting, keep bringing each other up and to compliment each other. That’s what helped bring us back.”

Watkins served an early ace, then added a hard kill, a soft push over the net, and an ace during a seven-point span to put Eldorado up 22-18 in the third set en route to a 25-19 edge.

The Sundevils started the fourth set on a 5-0 run and breezed to the 25-16 finish after a game-winning ace by Upshaw. Eldorado then got a kill and a block from Watkins, followed by a hard kill by Casey Bradshaw for a 9-4 lead in the decisive set as the Sundevils rolled to the win.

“Casey is our inspirational, go-to player. She’s like a pitbull on the court,” Roston said.

“I just hope we can come out this strong when we play (Las) Vegas, because that’s where it really counts.”

Veal contributed 18 assists and four aces for Sunrise Mountain, which fell into a tie for third in the Northeast with Valley. The Miners were 0-22 in their first season of competition last fall.