Girls’ Volleyball: Top tournament is in Vegas this weekend
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It’s a good thing Coach Cari Klein and her Marymount girls’ volleyball players are used to getting up with the sun.
Those 5:45 a.m. wake-up calls for early-morning practice sessions that were instituted last season were surely appreciated when it came time to rise and shine Friday and make their way to LAX for a flight to Las Vegas for the 2007 Durango Fall Classic that runs Friday and Saturday at Las Vegas Durango and Henderson (Nev.) Green Valley highs.
‘It’s not that hard to wake up,’ Klein said Thursday. ‘Packing and getting ready is what’s hard.’
Still, Klein was looking forward to the Sailors’ 7:30 a.m. flight to Las Vegas, and is anticipating tough competition when she gets there.
It’s a good bet, to be sure.
Southern California teams will take up fully half of the prestigious annual tournament’s 32-team draw, which includes three defending state champions.
Los Alamitos won the Division I state title in 2006. Defending Durango tournament champion Mira Costa won the Division II state championship and Marymount won in Division IV. See The Times’ stories on the title matches here.
Marymount, which opens tournament play at 3 p.m. Friday, is one of five area teams ranked in the top 35 nationally according to PrepVolleyball.com. Mira Costa (6-0) moved up from the No. 2 ranking last week into the top spot, while Los Alamitos (16-2) is 19th, Newport Harbor (8-1) is No. 28, Marymount (4-4) is No. 33, Redondo (8-2) No. 35 in the latest Century Club National Top 100 rankings.
Mira Costa also is one of seven in the Southern Section Division I-AA coaches’ poll that is competing in the tournament. The others are No. 2 Los Alamitos, No. 3 Redondo, No. 5 Santa Margarita, No. 6 Newport Harbor, No. 9 Lakewood and No. 10 Long Beach Wilson.
Marymount has struggled with injuries and a challenging schedule that has included losses to Mira Costa, one-time national No. 1 Archbishop Mitty, Los Alamitos and Santa Barbara, which is ranked No. 25 nationally.
Klein, nonetheless, is keeping her eye on the prize this weekend.
‘I’m leery of everything, but we still do it,’ she said. ‘We’re going to go for it. I think you need to play the best competition to get better, and that’s what we’ll do.’
The Sailors, who have won six consecutive Southern Section titles, including one in Division I-A last season, undoubtedly will provide a similar challenge to their opponents.
Once they wake up, that is.
- Lauren Peterson