Revenge puts La Cañada girls’ volleyball on cusp of league title
LA CAÑADA – Two hours of grinding play mixed with frustration and elation provided clarity for the La Cañada High girls’ volleyball team Tuesday afternoon.
The Spartans exacted revenge and took a giant step toward their first Rio Hondo League championship in five seasons with a thrilling 25-16, 20-25, 24-26, 25-13, 15-13 victory over visiting San Marino.
La Cañada improved to 14-5 and 7-1 in league, which is good for a one-match lead over Monrovia (13-6, 6-2), a team the Spartans have swept, and two matches ahead of San Marino (19-10, 5-3) with two league contests remaining.
The Spartans can clinch a share of the program’s 23rd league title and first since 2012 with a victory Thursday at Blair. La Cañada closes the regular season at Temple City on Monday.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first between the squads since La Cañada fell, 3-2, in San Marino on Sept. 28.
“I can’t really put into words how happy I am right now,” La Cañada coach Chris Sullivan said. “The kids could have folded after the third set, but they kept fighting. They squeaked it out.
“We didn’t play our best by any means, but we found a way to win. The goal since the summer has been league and now we’re right there.”
La Cañada took its biggest advantage of the deciding fifth set when an ace from sophomore Emily Weirick, who finished with 16 kills and two aces, capped a 3-0 spurt and gave the Spartans a 10-6 advantage.
San Marino pushed back and closed within 10-9 on a kill from outside hitter Nicole Doerges, who was stellar in leading all players with 19 kills.
The Spartans bounced back and hit match-point, 14-11, on a block from Kimberly Callister of San Marino’s Morgan Woodward.
Yet, gaffes brought the Titans within 14-13.
Finally, a service error from San Marino secured the Spartans a 15-13 victory.
“It’s so good to get this win, my gosh,” said La Cañada senior outside Kerstein, who finished with 14 kills and seven aces. “We worked so hard for this win and gave it all we had.”
La Cañada fought a gritty San Marino squad and its own nerves.
Seven of San Marino’s 13 points in the fifth set came via errors.
“I think our team has a reputation for playing down to another team’s level,” Weirick said. “That’s what happened. We didn’t play to the level we should have.”
Maybe there was no better example of La Cañada’s occasional struggles than toward the end of the third set.
The match was tied at 1 and a Titans’ hitting error gave La Cañada a 23-19 lead.
From that point, however, San Marino rallied thanks to two Spartans’ errors and clutch hitting from Doerges and Erin Hill (11 kills) for a 7-1 run and an impressive 26-24 victory that gave San Marino a 2-1 advantage. Hill connected on the winning spike that split two Spartans’ defenders.
“Our big advantage has been team chemistry,” San Marino coach Hugo Ayala said. “We have the talent, but we’ve bonded and we’re a tough team to beat. La Cañada just got us tonight.”
While La Cañada may have been shocked after the third set, the Spartans quickly clinched a 25-13 win in the fourth set to force a winner-take-all fifth game.
La Cañada started strong with a 25-16 victory in the first set fueled by five kills from Kerstein and three kills and one ace from Weirick.
San Marino countered with a 25-20 victory in the second set thanks to seven kills from Doerges.
Twitter: @campadresports
