Victory Rally Puts Harvard Over the Top

Yes, those were footsteps the Harvard-Westlake girls’ volleyball team heard Tuesday night against host Chaminade. But faced with the prospect of an outright Mission League championship slipping away, the Wolverines rallied for an 8-15, 12-15, 15-8, 15-13, 15-9 victory.

Harvard-Westlake (10-4, 10-1 in league play) stumbled offensively in the early going, but outside hitters Laura Wolf (17 kills) and Hillary Gross (15 kills) awoke in the final three games to spark the comeback.

“We came out a little nervous,” Wolf said. “Once we don’t think about what we are doing, we get on top of things.”

The Wolverines also needed to turn up the defensive pressure to pull this one out.

Chaminade (11-4, 9-3) used the strong hitting of Kristine Esters to build an early lead and come within sight of a share of the title. But although Esters racked up 10 kills in the first two games, she was held to four the rest of the way.

“We played great defense when we had to,” Harvard-Westlake Coach King Schofield said. “The back row sacrificed their bodies. You have to come up with some digs to pull out a match when you are down like that.”

Chaminade Coach Barbara Gomperz said her team was worn down by the unrelenting pressure of the Wolverines.

“They played great defense the last three games,” Gomperz said. “We were not able to terminate a ball. Defensive teams can wear a team down and that’s what they did to us.”

Back-row specialist Angie Wong keyed the Harvard-Westlake defensive effort with 24 digs and Gross added 21.

Chaminade’s best chance to win came in the fourth game when the Eagles rallied from a 7-4 deficit to tie the score, 13-13. But a service error gave the Wolverines the ball back and a kill by Wolf and an ace by Wong closed out the game.

Harvard-Westlake led the entire way in the final game, though the Eagles got as close as 8-6 and 9-7. But the combination of solid serving and the hitting of the Wolf-Gross tandem kept the Wolverines out of trouble.

“We played a great two games,” Gomperz said. “It’s really disappointing to have a 2-0 lead at home and lose three straight.”