ROUNDUP : Thousand Oaks Falls Victim to El Toro’s Singular Ways

It is not often that a team will single out and attack one of the opposing team’s best players. But that’s exactly what El Toro High assistant Coach Kim Jagd suggested the Chargers do to Thousand Oaks’ Aimee Stone.

And, to put it simply, it worked like a charm.

El Toro overcame a first-game loss to the Lancers and rallied to win the match, 12-15, 15-5, 15-7, 15-10, Tuesday at El Toro and advance to the Southern Section 5-A Division volleyball semifinals.

“We were picking up what they did offensively and my wife (Kim Jagd) figured out that (Stone) had a lot of offensive responsibility,” El Toro Coach Mike Jagd said. “So we served at her, hoping (that) making the passes and still hitting would put pressure on her.”

It worked. Stone had trouble handling the serves, she forced passes and also had difficulty with kills.

Thousand Oaks, the Marmonte League champion, finished 18-4.

“It really takes me time to adjust to things,” said Stone, who finished the game with 14 kills and five digs. “I’ll hit 20 kills the same way before I adjust.”

El Toro (18-3), ranked second in the final 5-A poll, was led by Michelle Mauney, who had 14 kills, 10 blocks, 13 digs and four aces.