Sage Hill edged at Yucaipa

YUCAIPA — Sage Hill School boys’ volleyball coach Dan Thomassen said his team couldn’t finish in Game 2 and it made a difference against Yucaipa Thursday night.

The sixth-seeded Thunderbirds (21-1) fed off their home crowd and beat No. 10 Sage, 18-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9, in a CIF Southern Section Division IV second-round match.

“It was one of the games that we couldn’t find a way to win it,” Thomassen said of the second set. “It was 22-all. They kept getting better in front of their crowd.”

Thomassen said he looks forward to next year, as there will be six returning starters for Sage Hill.

Junior outside hitter Cole Kirby led the Lightning with 24 kills and six digs.

Junior outside hitter Chris Zadra had 14 kills and four aces for Sage Hil.

Lightning sophomore setter Kent Kawaguchi had 38 assists, 17 digs, four kills and three aces, while sophomore Creagan Lydon had three kills and two blocks.

Sage senior Kenji Gottner had 11 digs.

— From staff reports