High School Girls’ Volleyball Playoffs : Newbury Park Holds Off Louisville

Newbury Park, behind the defensive digs of Camille Mitchell and Julie Cutright, defeated Louisville, 15-9, 15-12, 13-15, 15-8, Friday night in a second-round Southern Section 4-A Division playoff match at Newbury Park.

The Panthers, the fifth-ranked team in the 4-A, will play Edison on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at a site to be determined today.

Newbury Park Coach Joe Wortmann changed his team’s blocking pattern after 2 games--even though the Panthers had won both.

“I told them, ‘You guys are going to dig balls, right?’,” Wortmann said. “They said, ‘Right coach.’ ”

Wortmann told the Panthers (16-1) to lower their blocks so Louisville couldn’t hit spikes off the Panthers’ arms. That meant the Royals could spike past the blocks, putting added pressure on Newbury Park’s back-row players. After dropping the third game while making the adjustments, Mitchell, Cutright and the rest of the team responded and took the fourth game.

Mitchell had a team-high 20 digs and Cutright added 14. Newbury Park, which tied for the Marmonte League championship with Thousand Oaks, finished with 64 digs.

“That was the most digs we have ever had,” Wortmann said.

And once Newbury Park dug the Royal spikes, the Panthers usually put away their own. Mitchell had a team-high 18 kills and middle blocker Marlo Cormier added 12.

“I was trying to mix it up,” setter Shannon Mutch said.

Louisville (9-9), which lost its first 6 matches but stormed back to win a share of its third consecutive San Fernando Valley League title, took a 6-3 lead in the fourth game.

But Newbury Park, behind its new-found digging techniques and Mitchell’s hitting, scored 12 of the next 14 points to win the match.

4-A DIVISION

Thousand Oaks d. Chaminade 15-10, 15-8, 15-3--Middle blocker Kerri Black had 7 kills and 3 blocks and Jamie Heggen had 8 kills for the Lancers at Chaminade.

“Kerri made some key hits at critical times in all three games,” Thousand Oaks Coach Ron Beick said.

Thousand Oaks (17-1) has won 9 consecutive matches.

Gahr d. Royal, 15-6, 15-8, 16-14--Alicia Burns had 10 kills, 12 blocks and 9 digs and Tess Blom added 9 kills and 18 blocks to lead the top-ranked Gladiators (16-0) in a second-round 4-A match at Royal.

Carina Sailer had 11 kills and Allison Vantel had 9 for Royal (13-5).

3-A DIVISION

Calabasas d. Antelope Valley, 12-15, 15-3, 15-3, 15-11--Senior outside hitter Kari Ellman had 17 kills and Jenni Shoji had 11 aces for Calabasas (12-4) in a second-round match at Antelope Valley.

Calabasas, ranked fifth in the division, had 23 service aces.

1-A DIVISION

Campbell Hall d. San Dimas, 15-9, 15-11, 16-14--Jeanelle Meskimen had 33 assists and Crissy Mills had 8 kills and 6 blocks to lead the Vikings (16-3) at home.

L.A. Baptist d. Big Bear, 15-7, 16-14, 15-8--Bernie Verwey had 9 kills and Sandy Null added 8 kills and 3 blocks to lead the top-ranked Knights (17-0) in a second-round match at Big Bear.

St. Anthony d. Village Christian, 15-11, 15-10, 15-7--Third-ranked St. Anthony recorded a sweep at Village Christian (13-4) despite 8 kills and 3 aces by Crusader outside hitter Heather Hepburn.

CITY SECTION 4-A

Chatsworth, El Camino Real and Cleveland all advanced to the single-elimination round in City Section 4-A Division playoff-pool play at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Chatsworth finished first in its pool and plays host to No. 6 Venice on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Cleveland, which finished second in its pool at 3-3, is seeded No. 8 and will visit top-seeded University on Tuesday at 3 p.m. El Camino Real, which is seeded No. 4, plays host to No. 5 Roosevelt 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Defending champion Palisades was eliminated.