Holy Family volleyball sweeps aside St. Monica Academy
GLENDALE — During the first several matches of the season, the Holy Family volleyball team has tried to find the right lineup combination.
With Meghann Velasquez at outside hitter, Holy Family might have a go-to player for the next four seasons.
Going up against St. Monica Academy, the defending CIF southern Section Division V-A champion, Velasquez posted 16 digs, six kills and two aces Tuesday to help Holy Family to a 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 nonleague win at Maple Park.
“I think we are starting to get better technically,” Velasquez said. “We know how and when to get to the ball and we are positioning ourselves a lot better each game.
“We’re working hard to get to that next level. We feel like we have the right players in place to do something good.”
Holy Family (2-2) rarely allowed St. Monica (3-5) to put together a substantial run and got some quality serving. The Gaels received five aces from Kyleen Fonseca and four from Melanie Ibarra to handcuff the Crusaders.
Holy Family, which didn’t qualify for the playoffs last season, stayed in control throughout most of the match.
“It’s been a bit of a process of getting the right people to be at the right place,” Holy Family Coach Robert Bringas said. “You could see that they really wanted it today.
“They really wanted to do something and they took a positive step. We got some very good serving.”
Ibarra added 16 assists and four digs for the Gaels, who got three kills and three digs from Fonseca.
St. Monica, which won the International League championship and reached the CIF State Division V playoffs last season, got nine kills and six aces from Molly Hagan. Hagan, the lone returner for the Crusaders, received All-CIF honors after helping the Crusaders win the school’s first CIF crown.
“I thought we played a lot better today,” said St. Monica Coach Darren Bradley, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Volleyball Coach of the Year. “We transitioned better and our serve-receive was much better.
“[Holy Family] served tough and that made it hard at times. I walk away feeling good about how we played.”
Fonseca had an ace to give Holy Family a 13-10 advantage in the first game. A kill by Katheryne Cuellar extended the lead to 22-12. St. Monica then went on a 9-1 run to pull to within 23-21. Hagan had a kill to cap the surge. Holy Family locked up the first game on a serving error.
An ace by Ibarra gave the Gaels a 14-7 lead in the second game. Velasquez then recorded an ace down the left side to make it 18-8. The Crusaders pulled to within 22-17 on a kill by Hagan before the Gaels closed out on a 3-1 run.
In the third game, Velasquez had a kill to make it 13-8. A kill later by Velasquez extended the lead to 20-13. She closed out the match with a kill.
“I think we did a good job of not having [St. Monica] go on long runs,” Bringas said.
