TEMECULA — The score was tied at 25, and the Temecula Valley girls volleyball team was staring at the possibility of a fifth set.

Coach Neemias Costa clapped his hands and shouted to his players, “You’ve been here before. You know what it takes to win.”

Savannah Sheridan smacked a kill deep into the corner, and Brooklyn Pierce placed a serve just inside the end line for an ace as the Golden Bears defeated Orange Lutheran 25-23, 20-25, 25-16, 27-25 in a CIF State Division I regional playoff opener Tuesday.

Temecula Valley (20-4) will be back at home Thursday at 6 p.m. for a second-round match with Bakersfield Centennial (31-11).

“A lot of us have been playing together for many years, so I think it’s the trust we all have in another,” Pierce, a junior setter, said about the team’s abilit

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