Canyon Cowboys girls’ volleyball had its extraordinary CIF playoff run end on Saturday night at the hands of the Corona Panthers.   The Cowboys’ best season in program history will include a CIF Southern Section Division 5 runner-up title after a five-set marathon match with the Panthers.   Corona took the match and CIF crown on its home court. 25-20, 19-25, 22-25, 25-22 and 15-9, behind sensational team serving and play from middle blocker Hannah Hass.   Hass totaled eight blocks on the night along with a team-high 18 kills in the championship match victory.   Canyon was led by junior outside hitter Parys Taylor with 23 kills. Taylor seemed to progress in every set, which was crucial to Canyon taking a 2-1 lead after the third set.  Canyon outside hitter Parys Taylor goes for the kill against Corona in the CIF championship match. Photo by Cole Franquiz / For The Signal “I think they settled their nerves a little bit,” Cowboys coach Samantha Holcombe said in a phone interview. “I just reassured them that they’ve made it this far, they can play better volleyball, and they did. They started trusting themselves more. We were moving the ball around better and made less serving mistakes.”  Only two Canyon players earned points in the final set and Taylor was the only Cowboy to register more than one. Canyon went up 4-1 before a hitting error frenzy killed the team in crunch time. Corona stormed back to take its first lead at 8-7 and pulled away on a 7-2 run to close it out.   Back-to-back points from Hass put the Panthers up 13-8 before a kill from outside hitter Amelia Bonnema ended the night a few plays later.   Bonnema played well for Corona with 15 kills and a match-high four aces.   After serving errors and receive issues cost Canyon the first game, the visiting team stormed back in the second set.   Canyon celebrates winning a point against Corona in the CIF championship match. Photo by Cole Franquiz / For The Signal “Once they start to trust each other and know that they can do it after a good point or two, they have a lot of poise and a lot of confidence,” Holcombe said. “Then we can start to go on, we call it putting the gas pedal down, and that helped a lot in the second and third set after losing that first set.”  One possible reason for the comeback was the late arrival of the Cowboys student section. Canyon found some rhythm and fired off a 6-0 run behind the strong serving of captain Layla Tejeda.   Canyon students cheer on the girls’ volleyball team at Corona High School. Photo by Cole Franquiz / For The Signal Canyon pulled away late in the second thanks to more strong serving and hitting from Taylor. The junior capped off a long rally for 24-18 with a booming kill after two huge digs in the play from Cowboys libero Mary Audish.   “We went down a little bit then we fought back. Seems to be our forte,” Holcombe said. “We sometimes try to do too much, and we try to tip when we really just need to go up and hit the ball … They were playing well. We were playing well. We were making errors. They were making errors. It was just kind of a momentum buzz to not take that fourth set but, but I think we built good momentum to go into the fifth set.”  Olivia Turner was all over a good chunk of the Corona swings as she totaled six blocks along with three kills.  Canyon middle blocker Olivia Turner hits against Corona in the CIF championship match. Photo by Cole Franquiz / For The Signal The Cowboys had played four and five set matches plenty of times but found themselves trailing in games for the first time all postseason. Canyon shook out of the nerves early but Holcombe knows her team can strive to be better.  “We definitely didn’t look like a team that I know that we should be in that first set and it kind of set the tone,” Holcombe said. “We were able to scrap through sets two and three and pull off those victories, but how we normally play, our clicking, I just didn’t see it from everybody.”  Canyon’s historic season isn’t over yet as the team will advance into the regional state tournament on Tuesday. The regional match will be Canyon’s first trip to state, adding more history to the 2024 team that never gave up after down years with the program.   “I don’t know how to put it into words how proud I am of them,” Holcombe said. “Obviously they’re sad, but I just want them to realize what they’ve done, what they’ve been able to do in a season, let alone. Everybody, all 16 of them, have worked so hard all season, whether they’ve touched the court or not. It’s just really good team camaraderie, and I think that’s taken us so far, because they trust each other so well and have so much confidence together as a team.”  Canyon libero Mary Audish serves against Corona in the CIF title match. Photo by Cole Franquiz / For The Signal The Cowboys will head into the regional tournament on Tuesday night and were set to find out their opponent, division and bracket on Sunday morning.  Canyon senior Jorgia Horwedel serves against Corona in the CIF championship match. Photo by Cole Franquiz / For The Signal Canyon middle blocker Olivia Turner goes for the kill against Corona. Photo by Cole Franquiz / For The SignalThe post Canyon volleyball falls short in five-set CIF title match   appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.