St. Monica Academy girls’ volleyball advance to championship match
AVALON — A playoff journey that sent the St. Monica Academy girls’ volleyball team from the San Gabriel Valley to the Inland Empire and even onto an island has one road destination left: CIF Southern Section Division V-A title match.
That’s because visiting third-seeded St. Monica traveled via bus and ferry and knocked off second-seeded Avalon High of Catalina Island, 25-23, 25-23, 25-10 in Tuesday afternoon’s semifinals.
With the victory, the seven-time reigning International League champion Crusaders (23-4-2) earned their second bid in four years to the Division V-A title match.
St. Monica will face top-seeded Irvine Tarbut V’Torah or Omega League champion Thousand Oaks Hillcrest Christian on Friday or Saturday at Cerritos College or Rio Hondo College.
“It feels good to be back,” said St. Monica Academy Coach Darren Bradley, whose squad lost the Division V-A title, 3-2, to Orangewood Academy in 2012. “When you look at these teams, there’s a lot more balance on this squad than on that one in 2012. We don’t have a player like [Gonzaga outside hitter Caitlin Hall], but we have a good team.”
Bradley’s squad showcased both an ability to bounce back and capability to close out.
Tuesday’s contest seemed destined to go at least four sets as the Lancers (18-4) rallied from a tough 25-23 defeat in the first game to take a 15-8 advantage behind the offensive prowess of Taryn Minuto.
The outside hitter tallied four kills and a block in the second set and finished with 12 kills overall.
Rather than call a timeout, Bradley opted to see if his team could snap out of its mid-game funk.
The move paid off, as senior outside hitter Therese Boles collected four of her match-high 17 kills in helping to rally the squad back.
“It was co-captain Molly [Hagan] and I who said we had to be more aggressive and attack, which we weren’t doing,” said Boles, who along with Michelle Hall and Rose Goodwin are holdovers from the 2012 squad. “We had to get back to playing the way we’re supposed to.”
Hagan, who finished with seven kills and an ace, did her part by tallying four kills as St. Monica took an 18-17 lead on a kill from Sophia Vega.
St. Monica again fell behind, 22-19, and again bounced back to tie before taking a critical 24-23 lead on a block of Minuto by Goodwin, who finished with eight kills and two blocks.
“When I set my mind to roof someone, I’m going to do it,” Goodwin said. “I just went up there and tried to do my best.”
Francesca McCall closed out the Crusaders’ win with the final of her four aces to preserve a 25-23 victory.
The triumph seemed to simultaneously buoy St. Monica and deflate Avalon, which came out flat in the final set.
St. Monica libero Yamila Evans, who finished with 35 digs, was on serve in a Crusaders’ 14-0 run in which the visitors took a 15-1 advantage.
“Coach Bradley said when we had them in that position, we had to finish them off,” said Evans, who finished with four aces. “I hadn’t been in a run like that against good competition.”
It was the ace that eventually buried the Lancers, as they were unprepared on the final possession of the contest when Boles closed out with an ace.
“It’s special to get back to the championship especially after what happened last year,” said Boles in reference to St. Monica’s postseason ban last season due to an ineligible player. “You work and you go everywhere and now it’s nice for the work to pay off.”