SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION II VOLLEYBALL : Sunny Hills Unable to Complete the Job

Rachel Hochgesang has been Sunny Hills’ go-to volleyball player all season, but the Lancers couldn’t get the ball to her when they needed to most.

Unseeded Sunny Hills blew leads of 6-2 in the fourth game and 8-3 in the fifth as unseeded Torrance Bishop Montgomery rallied for a 12-15, 15-8, 12-15, 15-8, 15-9 victory in the Southern Section Division II championship match Saturday night at Cerritos College.

The match turned into a showcase for Hochgesang, a 5-foot-10 senior outside hitter who finished with a match-high 37 kills, and Bishop Montgomery’s Miya Malauulu, a 5-8 senior outside hitter who had 34.

But Sunny Hills (19-2) couldn’t pass and get a decent set to Hochgesang during a key stretch in the fifth game. Malauulu had four kills to spark a 10-0 Bishop Montgomery run that turned the 8-3 deficit into a 13-8 lead.

An unforced error by Sunny Hills made it 14-9, and Hochgesang hit into the net on match point.

Sunny Hills Coach Ron Kasser said the Lancers had a “off night.”

“You don’t beat teams like this and make mistakes like we did,” he said. “It’s a shame we had to play like this in front of so many people.”

Kasser thought the Lancers’ inexperience also cost them. Sunny Hills has more sophomores (four) on its roster than seniors (three).

“From the start, I could tell we weren’t on our game,” he said. “We haven’t been running into each other out there like that. I don’t know what it was. It might have been our youth. It might have been our nervousness.”

Hochgesang had eight kills in the first game, including three in a row to stop a Bishop Montgomery rally, when the Knights cut a 13-10 deficit to 13-12 on a pair of aces by Celeste Adams.

But Hochgesang hit cross court to give the ball back to Sunny Hills, then pounded two more kills to give the Lancers the game.

In the second game, Sunny Hills rallied from a 9-2 deficit, cutting it to 11-8, but a Lancer hitting error and three consecutive kills by Bishop Montgomery’s Caroline Wollner evened the match.

Hochgesang and Malauulu continued their battle in the third game, but it was Tegan Catlin who made the difference.

She led a 7-0 Sunny Hills run with three kills and an ace as the Lancers rallied from a 12-8 deficit to take a two-games-to-one lead.

Sunny Hills led, 6-2 and 7-5, in the fourth game before Bishop Montgomery turned it around. Malauulu had three kills, an ace and a block to help the Knights score 10 of the next 11.

Although disappointed with his team’s play, Kasser was pleased it reached the section final, exceeding his expectations before the season.