New Eagles take flight

COSTA MESA — Already in one game a couple of the Rowland High girls’ volleyball players sat on the Estancia floor.

Not enough chairs for everyone. The Raiders looked as though they were playing musical chairs each time there were substitutions. Not a good time to fool around with the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs Tuesday.

Then more confusion for Rowland, the rotation went astray. Seconds after Estancia returned from a timeout, Coach Aimee Urbien called a timeout to rearrange her Raiders.

One player left the court, another came in, and for a moment Rowland figured it out. The correct players stayed on, the reserve players shared chairs.

The bench then got crowded when the Eagles made sure to send the rest of the Raiders to their seats, as Estancia won, 25-18, 14-25, 25-17, 25-21, to advance to the second round for the second straight year.

Coach Jim Huffman said the two things he remembers from last year are guiding Estancia to the second round for the first time in school history and its second-round opponent, Bishop Montgomery.

The Eagles are heading back to Torrance to play at Bishop Montgomery (23-8), the No. 2 seed with a first-round bye. This Thursday visit Huffman is hoping Estancia (19-11) comes in with a different attitude.

“Last year we walked into that gym and our girls were intimidated the minute we came in the door,” said Huffman, whose team lost to Bishop Montgomery, 25-16, 25-10, 25-11. “This year at least they’re not afraid.”

No reason to be frightened. The Eagles have competed, more like played against the best, defending section champ Laguna Beach. Estancia finished in second place behind the Breakers in the Orange Coast League.

Huffman is glad for the stiff competition. The last time the Eagles faced Laguna Beach, now the top seed in the playoffs, he tweaked his lineup. With nothing to lose, but a league match, Huffman has found out his changes work against elite teams. More defense.

The Eagles unveiled their new look against the Raiders (9-10). The third-place team out of the competitive San Antonio League, which boasts two other playoffs teams in Walnut and South Hills, faltered when it tried to attack the back row, or the net.

When middle blocker Olivia Schow wasn’t stuffing the ball or altering shots, others were digging balls and setting up hitters Annie Tomasek and Sarah Braunsdorf and Schow for hammering shots. Schow and Tomasek led Estancia with 12 kills each and Braunsdorf added 11.

But Tomasek, usually playing on the left, moved to the right side. The move kept UNLV-bound senior Cursty Jackson from ripping apart Estancia. Tomasek made no errors.

“We did it so we could have [Tomasek] block their biggest hitter,” said Huffman, who slowed down Jackson at times, allowing her to record 23 kills.

Jackson, who’s 6-foot-2, could’ve had more. Amanda Watson, the setter all year long, switched to the back and finished with 16 digs.

In at setter was sophomore Shona Lamb and she finished with 34 assists. The moves worked, as Braunsdorf and Amy Hartwell made it three Eagles in double figures in digs with 17 and 15, respectively.

“Had we not had [Watson] back there somebody else would not have had that [many digs],” Huffman said. “I was ready to be back to the other lineup if it spoiled. But in the first game we played pretty darn good. We’re going to stick with it. It gives us our best shot of winning.”

Urbien thinks with 6-1 Schow in the middle, Estancia is dangerous.

“We tried to shut her down,” she said, but with the rotation mess it made it troublesome. “They were calling us on our rotation. We thought we had the rotation right and then [the referee] was saying it wasn’t right. When it came to our next server, it was the wrong server. It was tough.”

So was sitting on the ground for some of her Raiders, who at times watched the ball roll to them, but with no shot to strike back.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.