SOUTHERN SECTION VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Mater Dei Gets Bench Help to Shake Off Sluggishness

Mater Dei, the No. 2-seeded team, needed five games to defeat Ventura, 12-15, 15-8, 10-15, 15-12, 15-8, in a first-round Division 5-A girls’ volleyball playoff match Thursday at Mater Dei.

Ventura (12-3) took advantage of the sluggish Monarchs (17-4) in the first game. Jesaca Lepper, who had 18 kills and 8 blocks, spiked a free ball at game point for the Cougars.

Coach Laura Kennedy went to her bench to shake up the Monarchs, and it worked. Trailing 4-0 in the second game, Kennedy benched her top player, Amy Moeller (sore back), and Mater Dei scored 13 of the next 16 points.

Becky Gehlke, a left-hander who played with tendinitis in her left rotator cuff, had nine of her game-high 20 kills in the second game. Mater Dei’s biggest lift off the bench came from Karla Erikson, who had 17 kills.

“Karla and (setter) Pattie (Boland) are connecting so well in the middle right now,” Kennedy said.

Mater Dei advances to play Laguna Beach, which defeated University, Tuesday at a site to be determined by a coin flip.