Bearcats Work Overtime, But Receive Unjust Compensation

Whatever Bonita lacked in points, it more than made up in hugs.

Next Monday when school resumes, the Bonita volleyball team might have to file a grievance with the State Labor Commissioner.

Twice in their first two games against Mayfield of Pasadena, the lady Bearcats worked overtime and got paid zilch for their efforts, losing 26-24 and 29-27. By the time they worked a normal shift, they dropped the third and final game 25-18. It would have been easier to collect unemployment.

The Cub snub was hard to take, especially after Bonita’s tough Saturday loss against Los Altos.

“This was a tough game to play,” said Bonita Head Coach Adriana Contreras. “We had prepared so many days for the CIF match, I think we were emotionally drained. “We just couldn’t get into our rhythm. Games one, two and three, we were trailing.”

In Game 1, the Mayfield Cubs were having an easy time of it, at one point leading 16-10 after a service ace by Madisyn Spence. Then Bonita started creeping back, with a couple of kills by Katie Kirby, a service ace by Ashley Maxfeldt and a stuff by Victoria Dennis. Bonita caught the Cubs at 18, then rushed by them taking a 22-18 lead, again with Kirby and Dennis bringing most of the firepower. Then Bonita pulled out to a 23-20 lead on a kill by Allie LaPierre, and 24-20 on a kill by Danielle Lines. It was set point for Bonita, but Mayfield like a true champion, on this night anyway, reeled off six straight points to win 26-24, a stunning blow to the Bearcats in the all-important first game, which so often sets the tempo for the match. Credit the Cubs for digging in when the game was on the line, getting a great block on a LaPierre blast at the net followed by a service ace from Danielle Dondanville.

Fans of both teams spilled into the aisles to show their support.

Game 2 saw ties at 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10, before the Cubs found some breathing room at 15-11. Kirby helped keep Bonita close and the Bearcats knotted the score at 17. Then the seesaw struggle began in earnest, with ties at 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 before the Cubs won a service misfire by Bonita and a service ace of their own. Bonita didn’t seem to have an answer for countering middle blocker Hannah Schraer, who was a dominant and towering presence in the middle at 6-foot-2. Every time the Cubs needed a point, it seemed that Schraer or outside hitter Rachel Aragon rose high above the net to bombard Bonita.

Bonita had a hard time stopping Hannah Schraer.

Losing the second straight overtime game to the Cubs had to be deflating for Bonita, who just 72 hours earlier was upset in the CIF finals by Los Altos in a five-game marathon.

In Game 3, Bonita again hung tough, trading blows with the Cubs. Despite some service errors, Bonita tied the score at 10 on a Dennis drop shot. But after a Kirby kill to tie the score at 11, the Cubs roared to a commanding 22-12 lead, helped by two service aces from Spence. Only a kill by LaPierre broke the Cubs’ string. Bonita had fallen into a dead zone, and couldn’t find a way out.

But after a timeout call by Coach Contreras, Bonita rallied with an impressive block by LaPierre and Briana Kennedy, two more kills by LaPierre, another block by Dennis and Meg Phelps and still another kill by LaPierre. After a block by LaPierre cut the Cubs’ lead to 24-18, LaPierre served long, likely falling victim to too much adrenaline pumping. Bonita’s long season had finally come to an end.

Despite the disappointment of losing in the first round and not getting another shot at rival Los Altos, Contreras was proud of her team. What had she told her team on the last time out?

“I told them that I had seen them play a lot better than they had shown,” Contreras said, adding that she reminded them they were representing not only themselves but all of Bonita. So they stepped it up, and I was proud of them.

The Bonita team was the subject of countless photos in a memorable season.

“We have come a long way. We worked out butts off, so I’m very, very proud and very happy where we finished.”

Perhaps, the girls didn’t leave empty-handed after all, despite all that unpaid overtime they put in.