Gaudino, the reigning News-Press Boys' Volleyball Player of the Year, ended his year with a mind-spinning 657 kills.
"His arm's gonna fall off," grinned Turner in regards to the Cal State Northridge-bound Gaudino. "The main thing is, I can watch him next year."
It also concluded a season, that despite the loss, was one to remember for Gaudino.
"It was a great season, I don't think anyone expected this," Gaudino said. "If you would've told us at the first practice we'd lose in the quarterfinals, I would've been happy."
Happiness ultimately belonged to Brentwood (20-6), though. The Eagles never trailed in the match, notching a first-game victory when it seemed the Spartans would steal it.
Down 24-22, a double-contact call and a floating Gaudino kill tied the game.
A foot fault on a Spartan serve and an ensuing ace that skimmed off the net left the stunned Spartans with a 26-24 loss.
While the first game saw neither team score more than three consecutive points at a time, La Cañada scored six unanswered points to open a 6-1 second-game lead. It led to a 25-20 win, the most lopsided of the match.
While the Spartans attempted to steal the first game, the Eagles got away with grand larsceny in the third.
After an early 2-1 lead, the Eagles trailed until taking a 22-21 advantage.
Two clutch kills by senior Joe Hummell would put the Spartans back to even, but a controversial call in which the official said Gaudino touched an errant Eagle spike and a net-violation call ended the game unceremoniously.
Another late surge by Brentwood in the fourth game looked to rewrite an identical chapter, but the Spartans hung on to force a fifth game.
"I was really tired, I was just trying to get an extra burst of energy," said Gaudino of the tole taken during the five-game match played in a swealtering Spartan gym.
The teams exchanged the first six points of the fifth game, but Brentwood put down three straight points that turned into the match's turning point.
Brentwood's Tito Goldstein, a junior, tallied 21 kills in leading a middle attack that plagued the Spartans all match long.
Hummel finished with 10 kills, and Armen Haroutunian had 52 assists.
Gaudino, Hummell and Haroutunian are tri-captains who all played their final match Friday along with five other seniors.
Said Turner: "It was a great match to witness, it was a great match to coach and a great group of guys to coach."
