Yucaipa falls to Montebello in boys' CIF Volleyball Playoffs

"They were good, but I thought we would hang with them," she said. "We just did not play well tonight, that's the bottom line. We couldn't get anything to work and we weren't mentally prepared and played in a little bit of panic mode."

Montebello came out strong from the start and had leads of 5 to 10 points in the first game. Yucaipa pulled within 12-15, but two back-to-back kills by Gladney sent the Oilers on to a 10-2 run to finish the game.

"Their middle guys could hit with both hands, so it was kind of hard to block them," said Yucaipa setter, Cole Hauso. "We didn't do a good job of blocking and we were hesitant and everything fell apart and they pulled away."

But in the second game, Yucaipa played much better never trailing by more than three points. The score was tied at 20-20 and 22-22, but again the 6-foot Gladney came through with a kill to give the Oilers a 23-22 lead, and he finished off the win with a glancing shot off Yucaipa's defense to put the game in the win column.

Game three appeared to belong to Yucaipa. Much better defense, setting, and the inspired play of Hauso, Garrett Barham, Casey Garrison, Ellery Buck, and Ryan Saucedo, had the Thunderbirds leading 18-13, and they had the momentum. But back roared the Oilers by outscoring Yucaipa, 6-0 to take the lead.

Yucaipa tied the game with a Barham kill at 20-20, and after trailing 21-24, they were able to pull even at 24-24, but Gladney stepped up again with a kill shot to give the Oilers a 25-24 lead and eventually the game and the match. "We just let that third game slip away," Diliberto said.

Although the loss ends Yucaipa's season, Diliberto found much to be satisfied about this year's team. She said that the team had only three returning senior starters, and that most of the team had moved up to varsity from the junior varsity team.

"This was a very inexperienced team to have come this far," Diliberto said. "I didn't expect that we would win league this year. We accomplished a lot. I am very proud of this team."

The Thunderbirds won the Citrus Belt League championship with a 12-2 record - the third league title since Diliberto started the boys' volleyball program in 2002.

Since coming to Yucaipa High in 1995 and starting her coaching career, Diliberto has a combined 25 years coaching: Girls' softball (7 years, 3 league championships); girls' volleyball (11 years, 7 league titles); and boys' volleyball (7 years, 3 league championships).

With such a long and distinguished coaching career, she admits she is a bit tired and considering retiring.

"I haven't turned in my letter yet," said Diliberto, who is the Yucaipa-Calimesa school district's Adaptive Physical Education teacher. "They (boys volleyball players) want me to come back, but maybe it's time for someone younger (to coach.)"

YUCAIPA SCOREBOARD: Garrett Barham 10 kills, Ellery Buck 6 kills and 5 blocks, Ryan Saucedo 5 kills. Seth Hafner 10 digs, Tyler McDaniel 6 digs and 14 assists.

MONTEBELLO SCOREBOARD: Hasani Gladney 15 kills, Rene Anaya 12 kills, Eric Hart 9 kills. Alex Morales 37 assists.