Canyon girls’ volleyball’s serving and passing were just enough to win a back-and-forth playoff match over the visiting Flintridge Prep Wolves.  The Cowboys won the five-set CIF Division 5 quarterfinal match, 25-20, 25-10, 24-26, 22-25, 15-10.  Canyon trailed late in the fifth set before exploding late. The Cowboys faced a 9-7 deficit but kept chipping away until finding themselves in the driver’s seat.  Needing two more points, captain Layla Tejeda delivered from the end line and hammered in back-to-back aces to end the night and send the Canyon gym into a frenzy.  Canyon outside hitter Layla Tejeda (12) bumps the ball during the the third set of Wednesday’s game against Flintridge Prep at Canyon High School on Oct. 30. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal “My adrenaline was pumping,” said Cowboys coach Samantha Holcombe. “I don’t think the girls have been in a bigger game or won a bigger game. It’s the first game we went to five all season. So that was huge for them to be able to be relaxed … Half of the starters are seniors so I just told them, ‘It’s pretty much all or nothing right now, we either do it or we go home. So what are you gonna bring?’ They brought it.”  Tejeda finished the night with eight aces, 12 digs and nine kills. Sophomore middle blocker Olivia Turner also added 10 kills while hitting .500% for Canyon. Canyon middle hitter Olivia Turner (4) goes up for a block against Flintridge Prep opposite hitter Akemi Fu (19) during the first set of Wednesday’s game at Canyon High School on Oct. 30. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal The Cowboys coasted through the first two sets before the Wolves caught fire for the final three games.   Canyon dominated the second set en route to a 2-0 lead behind big serving runs and huge kills from outside hitter Parys Taylor.  Cowboys sophomore Mia Alcalde spearheaded a lopsided run in the second, where she added the bulk of her four aces. Canyon forced Flintridge into 32 serve receive errors on the night.  “They’ve been really focused on targeting their serving spots and they’re more confident back there, so we’re able to put the ball where we want to,” Holcombe said.  Canyon’s serve was consistent and the passing was steady, all while Taylor was doing the heavy lifting on the net. Taylor came out hot and added 25 kills for the Cowboys. The outside hitter would’ve likely earned the game-high in kills before the Wolves started heating up late.  Canyon outside hitter Parys Taylor (2) hits the ball over the net against Flintridge Prep’s Story Lim (13) and Akemi Fu (19) during the third set of Wednesday’s game at Canyon High School on Oct. 30. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Flintridge Prep rode its fiery outside hitter Abbie Callaway, who did most of the damage to force a fifth game.  Callaway totaled 32 kills in the loss and gave Canyon fits on the net. The Cowboys adjusted to the 6-foot, 1-inch outside and registered plenty of digs, but Callaway still had her way for the most part and also came away with her 1,000th Flintridge Prep career kill.  “We might have taken a step back a little bit when we were up that third set,” Holcombe said. “The end was in sight, and we might have relaxed a little bit, but they have a stellar hitter on their team. (Callaway’s) quite the athlete over there and she started to turn it on. We had a hard time stopping her.”  Canyon managed to slow down Callaway just enough in the fifth and secured not only a spot in the CIF semifinals, but also in the regional state tournament.  Canyon setter Theone Nguyen (19) puts the ball over the net against Flintridge Prep during the second set of Wednesday’s game at Canyon High School on Oct. 30. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal The Cowboys will return to their home court on Saturday and face a familiar foe in the Valencia Vikings for a spot in the Division 5 title match.  Both Canyon and Valencia survived five-set thrillers and both enter the semifinals on a five-match win streak.  “We’re playing some of our best volleyball right now, which is pretty awesome to do this time of year,” Holcombe said. “Everyone was clicking, our serving was good and the serve receive was good.”  Canyon middle hitters Olivia Turner (4) and Breanna Flanary (18) go up for a block against Flintridge Prep outside hitter Abbie Callaway (4) during the second set of Wednesday’s game at Canyon High School on Oct. 30. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal The Vikings swept the Cowboys twice during the regular season but both coaches know nothing will come easy on Saturday.   “I think we’re gonna really focus on how well we’ve been playing and how different we are now,” Holcombe said. “In the last month, our volleyball game since the last time we played Valencia has improved dramatically. I hope that they take that confidence in going into this game and don’t look at what our record was against them during league play.”  Canyon hosts Valencia on Saturday at 6 p.m. for a spot in the CIF championship match.  celebrate during the third set Canyon setter Theone Nguyen (19) and middle hitter Olivia Turner (4) go up for a block against Flintridge Prep during the third set of Wednesday’s game at Canyon High School on Oct. 30. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal The post Canyon wins wild five-set QFs match, will play Valencia in semis  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.