Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy serves up sweep of rival Harvard-Westlake

NORTH HOLLYWOOD — As expected, there will likely be plenty of learning experiences throughout the season for the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy volleyball team.

Flintridge Sacred Heart received one Saturday during its 27-25, 25-16, 25-20 Mission League road win against rival Harvard-Westlake.

Flintridge Sacred Heart (12-3, 2-1 in league) held a 24-19 advantage in the first set before Harvard-Westlake (0-2 in league) stormed back to tie it at 24 and then 25. The Tologs looked to regroup quickly and grab the momentum back. They did so with a kill from Kayla Lund and block from Natalie Buntich to close out the tight set.

“That was our learning experience from the match,” said Flintridge Sacred Heart Coach Ernest Banaag, whose team split the league championship last season with Marymount. “If we get a lead late, we need to be able to close it out and you saw we were able to do that the last two sets.

“We took away what Harvard-Westlake likes to do. We have a lot of juniors and seniors, so they can teach the younger players how to respond in different situations.”

The University of Pittsburg-bound Lund, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Volleyball Player of the Year, finished with 16 kills, 12 assists and 11 digs to help the Tologs turn back the Wolverines, ranked 10th in CIF Southern Section Division I, in the first of two head-to-head meetings. The Tologs also got 17 kills, 22 assists and 13 digs from Ellis DeJardin and 21 assists from Colleen Clapp.

“We definitely didn’t want to be in that situation again because they have a good team,” DeJardin said. “We have to learn how to close out games and we did that the rest of the way.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart, which began league with a road loss against Marymount before bouncing back to top visiting Alemany, jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the second set. DeJardin and Lund each had two kills in that stretch.

The Wolverines could get no closer than 22-16 following a kill down the left side by Pearl Acord. The Tologs then finished up on a 3-0 run.

The third set proved to be quite competitive. An ace by Lund gave Flintridge Sacred Heart a 14-7 lead. Later in the set, a kill by DeJardin extended the lead to 17-10. The Wolverines went on a run to pull to within 22-20. However, the Tologs regrouped by getting two straight kills from DeJardin and clinched the victory with a net violation against the Wolverines.

“You always know Harvard-Westlake will come out ready to play,” Lund said. “It’s always tough to come over here and play.

“We had to push hard to get the win and I think it can be a confidence boost. Maybe we got a little too comfortable in the first game. You just need to be calm and relaxed and know where you are at. It’s going to be a tough league again, so you’ll be getting a lot of challenges.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart and Harvard-Westlake will meet again at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at Flintridge Sacred Heart.