Tears for fears

By Michael Ashcraft --

Actually, Pacifica High School of Garden Grove got lucky. They passed through Round 2 of playoffs on a technical error from Lighthouse.

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Shayla Papik stepped out of position, and refs blew the whistle before anyone could show their stuff. Lighthouse Christian Academy lost the final set 16-18 against a school 40X larger.

"It was a coin toss really," says Coach Jessica Young.

It was a silly way to lose. Lighthouse dominated with serving and digging.

But LCA had a higher error ratio. There were wild balls on serves and hits.

The Saints are accustomed to dominate the net. But the Mariners' height advantage (one girl was 6'1") stymied their attacking prowess.

Star hitter Jillian Jenkins saw herself get blocked an unusual number of times until she figured out the way through half way through the second game, which Lighthouse won.

By game's end, Jill got 15 kills and 7 solo blocks. Kallie McKinney got 10 kills, 10 aces and 13 assists. Emma Mefford got 5 kills and 4 blocks.

Shayla got 10 kills and 15 assists. Riley Gonzalez got 12 digs.

The Saints roared off to an early lead racking up 5 points in the first game, as Pacifica sized up their opponents. About half way through the set, the Mariners adjusted their blocking and hitting and won convincingly 15-25.

Then it was Lighthouse's turn to pick the lock of Pacifica's formidable blocking. LCA took Set 2 with a score 25-21.

Saints serves were causing havoc for the Mariners. Conversely, Mariners' serving didn't hardly ruffle the Saints' feathers.

But wild balls -- on serves and hits -- took a toll on Lighthouse, which lost Set 3 by a score of 23-25.

They powered back in Set #4 with a solid 25-18 win. Jillian reminded viewers of the 1970s kung fu movies in which the master caught a bullet in his teeth.

Lighthouse was scrambling to keep a Pacifica hit in play. Shayla Papik deflected it with her palms with no arc to Riley Gonzalez who quickly palm-hit it forward, again with no arc.

Jillian, with her back to the net, threw up her right hand and hit the ball backwards and sideways while swiveling to her baffled opponents who were already counting their point.

They didn't return it.

There was no time for Jill to put on her black belt.

Maybe an even better comparison would be Novak Djokovic astonishing "tweener" shot in the 2013 Dubai Championship.

How did she do that?

It was enough to knock the wind out of you.

BUT in the final set, three consecutive LCA servers who could have finished off the Mariners didn't.

As the teams battled past the 15-point game winner (because you have to win by a difference of 2), the Saints went down 16-17.

The Mariners served. Shayla was out of position.

The whistle blew and the impossible dream of the Little Lighthouse (student population 40) came to an end.

Girls cried and hugged.

What happened next was extraordinary.

They huddled up for one last time, and the girls gave each other shout-outs. They spoke of how they bonded, how they had become a family.

It was way better than going and getting drunk.

It was a major win in the more important game of life.

How so? Any success in life has gotten there by passing through a marshland of losses.

If you don't develop the maturity to accept and slog through losses, you can fall into self-sabotage: avoid risking success for fear of failure.

That's what I did for years. I turned down career-making opportunities for fear that I would fail. By refusing to step up to the plate, guess what? I failed.

I failed by not trying.

This is what sports can do for you. It can build the emotional maturity you need in life, to make bold decisions and take the right risks.

So it's better to shed tears than live by fears.

"They're like a family, and that's the goal of sports, is character, relationships and growth," Coach Jessica says.