REGIONAL DIVISION II VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : La Habra Takes Streak on the Road to State

The streak goes on. And with La Habra’s latest addition to its 44-match win streak, so do the Highlanders.

La Habra (25-0) moved one step closer to its second consecutive state championship by defeating Lakewood St. Joseph, 15-5, 15-11, 15-10, in the Division II regional final Tuesday night at La Habra High School.

The Highlanders advance to Saturday’s state championship match, where they will play King City High (23-3) at Cal Poly Pomona at 5:30 p.m.

La Habra jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first game and cruised to an easy victory that was closed out with a Zrinka Kristich kill. She had 16 kills in the match.

“We came out really fired up and kind of overpowered them,” said La Habra Coach Sandy Blumenthal.

And it continued throughout the rest of the match as La Habra, on the strength of Kristich’s serving, jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the second game and pushed it to 12-3. But St. Joseph rallied to cut it to 12-11.

“We were giving away points and we put them back in the game with our mistakes,” Blumenthal said.

But as quickly as they allowed St. Joseph back in the game, Missy Clements knocked out the Jestersby serving the final three points for the 15-11 victory.

In the third game, St. Joseph (18-2) jumped out to a a 7-0 lead, but La Habra used its strong serves to rally and win, 15-10.

“We didn’t serve-receive that well tonight and that’s usually one of our strengths,” said St. Joseph Coach Mike Hinton. “We were giving away too many free balls and they’re too big and powerful of a team to do that to.”