BELLARMINE-JEFFERSON HIGH — For the third-straight season, the Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls’ volleyball team played its way to the CIF Southern Section quarterfinals.

The Guards found themselves in a tough fight early on in their elite-eight contest against a talented Pacifica Christian team. Although the Seawolves showed their ability to fight back, Bell-Jeff displayed an aptitude for closing out games, as it secured a 26-24, 22-25, 25-18, 25-16 Division IVAA victory Saturday at home.

“We were having problems with our serve, and that really threw us off,” said Bell-Jeff Coach Miguel Segura, whose squad advanced to the semifinals for the second straight season. “We lost a lot of points with our service mistakes.”

In the match, the Guards committed 15 service errors, including seven in the third game, which Pacifica Christian (22-8 and winners of the Heritage League) won.

In the first three games, Bell-Jeff — champion of the Santa Cruz League — had leads of six or seven points late in the stanzas, only to see Pacific Christian battle back.

The Guards were able to stave off the charges in every game but the second. Bell-Jeff enjoyed a seven-point advantage, 19-12, until Pacific Christian embarked on a 10-2 run to take the lead, 22-21. That run helped give the team momentum to win the game.

Jocelyn Cervantes paced the Guards with 22 kills.

“When we lost the second game I told them that we’re just going to have to fight back,” Cervantes said. “We knew we had to play better.”

Jeff Tully