TORRANCE -- For most of the opening-round playoff contest, the South Torrance girls volleyball team had issues handling the serve and connecting passes against a Saint Joseph (Lakewood) team with a clear size advantage.
A six-point lead in the third set wasn't even enough to overcome the early issues and extend the match.
Jesters middle blocker Ifeoma Okeke had 16 kills to lead a balanced attack Wednesday in a 25-21, 25-22, 25-23 road sweep over the top-seeded Spartans in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.
St. Joseph (16-15) will host Glendora (20-10) in a second-round contest Saturday at 6 p.m.
"We knew we wanted our Jesters to be there and just a bunch of Orange (in the crowd)," Okeke said of the incentive for advancing to the next round.
South (25-10) was unable to duplicate its effort from a two-set sweep of St. Joseph in a tournament last month. Opposite hitter Arelie Hershberg had eight kills to pace the Spartans, who also got four from middle blocker Faith Brown and three from outside hitter Kalena Snakenborg.
South coach Robert Kutsch said his players also haven't been the same since losing a five-set match to rival North two weeks ago. The result forced a split of the Pioneer League title as opposed to outright possession.
"They passed the ball better," Kutsch said of the difference in the second meeting. "We were able to serve and get them out of system a lot last time. Things were kind of reversed -- we did not pass well, at all. Probably our worst passing match of the year.
"We lost our second-to-last league match to North, at North. ... We were up 13-9 in the fifth and lost 26-24. We've kind of had a hangover ever since then. We haven't been able to shake that bad feeling of losing a match that we should have won."
The Jesters trailed 12-6 and used two quick timeouts in the third. Coach Josh Nehls said he reminded his players that they aren't playing against the scoreboard.
"We need to push effort, not results," Nehls said of his message in the second timeout. "You make a couple of mistakes and you're acting like that defines you. You won those first two (sets) with that relentless confidence. Bring that back and we will come back and win this set."
The players responded immediately. A South net violation sparked a string of six consecutive St. Joseph points, and Okeke had a kill and a block during the spurt.
"Good speech turns into good results thankfully," Nehls joked.
Added Kutsch: "It's volleyball. You never know what's going to spark a run, a good run or a bad run."
The third set was tied on four more occasions before Jesters middle blocker Leah Zabukovec and Okeke combined for three consecutive kills to go up 22-19.
A strong St. Joseph serve was also key, as Ella Reusch delivered her fourth ace for the contest for match point. The Jesters had four of their 10 aces in the final set.
"Our coach told us we didn't work this hard just to be down by six points," Okeke said, reference the key timeout that shifted the momentum.
St. Joseph also got 11 kills apiece from Sophia Gonsalves and Téa Izadi and seven from Zabukovec.
Okeke, who opened with seven kills in the first set, controlled the match early alongside Zabukovec.
"We wanted the team to really focus on the middles first so then we could open up everybody else," Okeke said.
In the second and third sets, Gonsalves and Izadi added to South's issues.
Whether it was soft, crosscourt swings from tough angles close to the net or clean sets in rhythm at the height of the jump, everything was working for St. Joseph. At one point in the third, an awkward backhand swat from Izadi found an open spot on the floor.
"We couldn't get them out of system," Kutsch said. "Obviously, they're bigger than us. If they're passing well, it's advantage them.
"One match doesn't define us, but we picked a bad night to probably play one of our worst matches of the year."