Saugus girls’ volleyball refused to be put away in Tuesday night’s five-set battle at West Ranch.   The Centurions trailed 2-1 entering the fourth game and went down 5-0 in the fifth but simply would not go away in a match that had Foothill League title implications.  Saugus won the gritty match 25-22, 21-25, 17-25, 27-25, 15-10, behind another overall strong team outing to win the Centurions’ 17th straight match.  Senior Leila Ballard led the Cents (28-1, 9-0) with a double-double featuring 25 kills and 14 digs. Ballard went on a solo 3-0 run in the fifth behind two aces and a kill to give Saugus its first lead of the set but made one of the highlight plays of the night a few plays earlier.   Saugus outside hitter Leila Ballard (2) puts the ball over the net against West Ranch defense during the second set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Ballard made a long run for a shanked pass as she managed to save the point and just got the ball over the net. Seconds later, an overpass from West Ranch (11-3, 7-2) gave Ballard an easy kill on the net.  “I wanted it so bad,” Ballard said. “We prepared for the first game against them for like three weeks. It was all about West Ranch. We knew we could take them down, but it was going to be hard-fought. I think after the last one, we knew that they were going to fight really hard in this one. So it was time for us to fight harder.”  Saugus kept fighting for every loose ball and eventually a West Ranch serving error gave the Centurions the match.   After sweeping the first bout at Saugus, the Centurions knew it would be a whole new fight come round two at West Ranch.  The fourth set featured both teams at their best. Ballard capped off a long rally for the first point with a kill, showing Saugus was ready to play five games.  Saugus middle blocker Ayden Jacobson (7) hits the ball against West Ranch outside hitter Devyn Kobe (9) during the second set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal West Ranch setter Dani Clewis has one of the toughest dump attacks to stop in the Foothill League and got four of them to hit the Saugus court on the night. However, Centurions’ middle Ayden Jacobson snuffed out the quick attack twice in the fourth set, for two huge plays, adding to her six-block night.  Clewis finished the night with 43 assists, 11 digs and four kills.  The Wildcats were led throughout the night by freshman Devyn Kobe, who totaled 22 kills and four blocks. However, West Ranch’s fellow starters stepped up big-time knowing a league title was on the line. Cats outside Joleen Reynolds and middle blocker Grace Kelley tallied up 11 kills, while the former also added 18 digs.  West Ranch middle blocker Grace Kelley (17) goes for the kill against Saugus during the second set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal “We started establishing our middle attack a whole lot more and Grace probably had the best match of her entire career,” said Wildcats coach Jamey Ker. “We were counting on that, I expected her to do that tonight…Best match (Reynolds) has played all year. I’m really proud of her, especially because I think she’s a person who has really struggled to find a rhythm. The biggest thing that I’ve asked of her and really tried to get out of her, is to get that confidence and to get her to go up and play bigger. And she played huge tonight.”  West Ranch’s celebrates a point against Saugus during the second set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Kelley did most of her damage on the right side of the net, in a play that typically freed her up from Jacobson or blocking standout Morgan Guardado.  Kills were tough to come by with Saugus libero Gabriela Cascione covering seemingly half of the court per usual on her way to 37 digs.  Saugus jumped to a six-point lead in the do-or-die set but West Ranch could smell a four-game victory. Back-to-back points from Kobe helped cut the lead down as the Cats eventually forced a deuce.   A kill from Taylor Stires on her second swing of the night gave Saugus set-point before a West Ranch miscommunication gave the Centurions the game.  The Wildcats played their own game in the second set as the passing and blocking both clicked, leading to a less-stressed offense. Kobe had her best set with six kills and an ace while Clewis got more aggressive on the net, tying the match with a set-sealing dump.   West Ranch celebrates after winning the second set against Saugus at West Ranch High School on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal West Ranch’s back row was led by libero Alexandra Seres, who tallied 19 digs. Passing was a key emphasis for the Wildcats, who dropped their first match with Saugus in straight sets.  “Our passers were excellent, whereas they were not in the first time we played (Saugus),” Ker said. “This game doesn’t work unless we pass the ball well. That made a huge difference.”  Passing was a key emphasis for the Wildcats, who dropped their first match with Saugus in straight sets. The Centurions knew it would be a whole new game and atmosphere all the way up Valencia Boulevard.  Saugus outside hitter Leila Ballard (2) bumps the ball during the second set of Tuesday’s game against West Ranch at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal “We knew that the last game really wasn’t them,” Ballard said. “We weren’t expecting them to play that the same way that they did last time. It was their home turf, they were going to fight super hard to beat us because they know how hard we want to be the league champs.”  The Cats won comfortably in the third set as they slowed the game down. West Ranch rode a 6-0 run and never lost its early lead in the set, which was ended by a kill from Reynolds.  Saugus is now in the driver’s seat for its second Foothill League title in three years as two more wins can seal the deal.   “We just have to finish it out,” Ballard said. “We can’t go easy on anyone else. We would like to go 12-0. We can’t slow down.”  The match also gave Saugus experience it will likely need come playoff time, as Tuesday marked the Centurions’ first five-set match of the season.  West Ranch’s student section celebrates after West Ranch wins a point against Saugus during the second set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Tuesday’s match also featured fundraising for local charity Circle of Hope, a nonprofit that raises money and awareness for cancer and diabetes. Ker confirmed that the program has raised over $16,000, half of which will be donated to Circle of Hope in a few weeks’ time when the total funds will likely increase by another thousand or so.  Despite the loss, the night isn’t a momentum killer for the Wildcats as Ker saw his team compete with one of the toughest teams in the section.  “As much as it stings to lose, and it especially stings to lose when you compete as hard as we did, it’s really hard to walk away from tonight’s match not feeling proud of my team,” Ker said. “We were competitors, we competed. That match went the way it was supposed to go for 99% of it … I’m proud of my girls for not lying down, especially after losing that first set. That’s a really hard thing to bounce back from.”  West Ranch setter Karleigh Larson (8) and middle blocker Valentina Rezzara (13) go up for a block against Saugus outside hitter Leah Taylor (21) during the second set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal West Ranch is already a lock for the postseason and a match like Tuesday’s only boosts Ker’s vision for the future of this season and 2025.  “There’s so much talk about this Saugus match and league championships, but these girls need to be able to see further than that,” Ker said. “Not only do we have significantly more league matches to play in, but we also have CIF and I think we’ve got a really good shot to finish pretty high. More importantly, we have a roster with 13 girls who are underclassmen so I’m looking at tonight’s match and going, ‘Awesome. I love that we got challenged in the way that we did,’ because what we learned from tonight is going to show itself a year from now and that’s a great perspective to have. To say this team doesn’t have to shut the door on anything. They all have  large and beautiful volleyball careers ahead of them.”  Saugus can secure at least a share of a Foothill League title in its home matchup with the Hart Hawks. West Ranch will look to keep its title or second-place campaign alive in a home match with Valencia. Both league matches are slated for Tuesday at 5 p.m.  Saugus opposite hitter Ayden Jacobson (7) hits the ball over the net against West Ranch setter Dani Clewis (26) during the first set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Saugus setter Morgan Guardado (3) and outside hitter Katelyn Nelson (9) go up for a block against West Ranch outside hitter Joeleen Reynolds (10) during the first quarter of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Saugus outside hitter Leah Taylor (21) hits the ball over the net against West Ranch defense during the first set of Tuesday’s game at West Ranch High School on Oct. 1. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal The post Saugus wins electric five-set match at West Ranch  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.