Cabrillo escaped Gilroy with a four-set victory (21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17) over the Gavilan women's volleyball team Friday, setting up a pivotal two-game stretch for the Lady Rams.
A playoff spot will be on the line for Gavilan, making this most recent defeat a little harder to take since it would have come against the first-place team in the Coast Conference.
"We kind of had them on the ropes for a while," Lady Rams coach Kevin Kramer said.
The focus now shifts to Friday's 6:30 p.m. match against visiting Hartnell. A win would allow Gavilan (15-10 overall, 5-3 conference) to have a chance at second place in the conference the following Wednesday, when it faces West Valley.
"That'll be our make-or-break opportunity," Kramer said.
West Valley beat Gavilan in a close match (24-26, 20-25, 25-19, 20-25) earlier in the season. A Lady Rams victory this time around would likely form a tie between the two in the standings. If that's the case, the deciding factor in whose season continues would be sets won in the two matches. A Gavilan victory in four sets would then make the tiebreaker change to point-differential. The Lady Rams would have to win by more than six points to advance if that becomes the determining factor.
Several other more complex scenarios would play out if it were to still remain a draw.
Gavilan has won six of its last nine contests, and Kramer thinks his squad has the confidence to make a final push.
"We're starting to figure it out," he said. "Instead of looking to win every game and worrying about losing every game, we're focusing on executing.
"If the win comes then it comes."
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