Tough, tested St. Monica Academy girls’ volleyball team looks for title

There’s something inexplicability special about the St. Monica Academy girls’ volleyball team.

Something that took head coach Darren Bradley a while to recognize.

The seven-time reigning International League champion Crusaders don’t boast a dominant hitter as in past years, they can get quite flustered early in sets and sometimes their serve-receive defense leaves much to be desired.

Yet, when St. Monica Academy seems to be in a pinch, the team turns to its best attribute.

“They’re mentally tough,” Bradley said before practice Thursday afternoon. “When this season started, I didn’t really know what type of team I had and I honestly didn’t know if we were a championship-caliber team. As the season has progressed, I’ve seen that mental toughness develop and I couldn’t be prouder of these girls.”

The third-seeded Crusaders (23-4-2) will have that toughness tested Saturday evening when they take on top-seeded Irvine Tarbut V’ Torah in the Division V-A championship at Rio Hondo College in Whittier at 8.

The Lions are the Express League champions and enter with a 25-1 record under first-year coach Lucas Black, the league’s coach of the year.

“The girls are extremely excited and they’re preparing hard,” Black said. “We’ve been going about our normal business every day, but there’s no doubt we’re excited.”

There’s plenty to be excited about, as St. Monica, in its first year on its campus in Montrose, is vying once more for the school’s first CIF championship.

While St. Monica and Tarbut V’ Torah haven’t played each other this season, they’ve faced many of the same opponents.

The Crusaders tied Hillcrest Christian (1-1) in Black Bessette Memorial Tournament action early this season and have posted victories over Lake Arrowhead Christian (1-0), Southlands Christian (3-0) and Avalon (3-0).

Tarbut V’ Torah has done a little better, having swept league rivals Avalon (twice by 3-1 scores) and Southlands Christian (twice by 3-0 scores), while also bouncing Hillcrest Christian two times (3-0 and 3-1) and Lake Arrowhead Christian (3-1).

Tarbut V’ Torah is led by a pair of juniors in Lauren Cohen and Kyra Wyman.

Cohen, an outside hitter, is averaging 2.6 kills per game with perhaps her best effort coming in a double-header victory over Avalon on Oct. 19, when she combined for 33 kills.

As for Wyman, the team’s outstanding libero, she’s turned in big tallies all year. Wyman is coming off a 35-dig performance in the 25-11, 25-18, 22-25, 25-19 semifinal victory over Hillcrest Christian in Tuesday’s semifinal. Prior to that, she had 39 digs in a 25-13, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18 quarterfinal win over Lake Arrowhead Christian.

“Kyra is a pretty special kid and she just has a different feel for the game,” Black said. “Some people just get it and make it look effortless and that’s her.

“As for Lauren, I moved her from middle blocker to outside hitter this year because we hate to switch her out for a libero. She’s a different player now. She’s a commanding force on the court.”

For Tarbut V’ Torah, this is the program’s first venture into a CIF title match.

As for St. Monica, all teams have been measured up to the 2012 squad that finished 25-7-1 and advanced to the Division V-A championship, where the Crusaders were defeated by Orangewood Academy, 3-2, at Cypress College.

That year’s squad was led by spectacular outside hitter Caitlin Hall, an All-Area first-team selection who averaged six kills per game, and setter Kristin Gates.

“We don’t have a Caitlin on this team, so we’re very much different,” Bradley said. “But I think we’re stronger.”

St. Monica might not have as flashy a leader as Hall, but the team more than responds to senior outside hitter Therese Boles, who leads the squad with 50 kills this postseason.

“We came into the season with a goal of getting to the finals and winning it all,” Boles said. “That never changed. We played some good teams along the way, like Santa Clarita Christian, to get us prepared for the playoffs. We just need to keep believing we’ll win.”

While the 2012 Crusaders breezed into the title match, the road to the 2015 championship match has been bumpier despite the squad having won 12 of 13 sets this postseason.

In the second round of the playoffs, St. Monica rallied from identical 17-13 deficits to Southlands Christians in the second and third sets with 12-4 and 12-3 runs, respectively, for a 25-19, 25-21, 25-20 victory in Walnut on Nov. 12.

Two days later, the Crusaders dropped their lone set of the postseason, 25-17, at Victorville University Prep before rallying for three consecutive wins, 25-19, 25-22, 26-24.

Even against Avalon in Tuesday’s semifinal on Catalina Island, even in another 3-0 sweep, the Crusaders’ play at times was as choppy as the ferry ride over.

The squad fell behind, 15-8, in the second game only to again bounce back with a 17-8 spurt to steal a 25-23 victory.

“We feel like everyone can contribute on this team,” libero Yamila Evans said. “When we fall behind, we don’t have to rely on one person. We’re one team and we all fight together. We’re all tough.”

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Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter: @campadresports