HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL STATE TOURNAMENT : Nordhoff Sweeps Past Carpinteria

Nordhoff High stacked its deck with aces Saturday and that proved enough to trump visiting Carpinteria in the second round of the girls’ state Division IV volleyball playoffs.

The Rangers (22-3) piled up 18 of their 45 points on service aces to sweep Carpinteria for the second time in two weeks and advance to Tuesday’s Southern California regional final.

The game scores were 15-2, 15-3, 15-5.

“We didn’t want to be overconfident,” said Nordhoff outside hitter Joanna Sandefur, who contributed three of her four aces on her first service rotation to help Nordhoff to an 8-1 lead in the first game. “We expected them to be a lot more prepared, so we wanted to come out strong.”

Nordhoff defeated Carpinteria in the Southern Section Division IV quarterfinals, 15-2, 15-3, 15-8. But the Rangers, the top-seeded team in their division in the Southern California regional, were even more dominant this time, needing only 46 minutes to finish off the fifth-seeded Warriors (14-7).

Nordhoff achieved victory despite the absence of outside hitter Jami Sawyer, who was out because of a sprained wrist. Sawyer had been one of the Rangers’ more effective hitters and also is an important defensive player, server and passer. But her cousin, Sandefur, stepped in to make sure Nordhoff didn’t miss a beat.

“We did a really good job making the adjustment,” Nordhoff setter Sami Sawyer said. “We just had to make up for it and go to who was hot.”

Jami Sawyer is expected back in the lineup Tuesday night when the Rangers will play host to the winner of Saturday’s other regional semifinal between L.A. Baptist and Yosemite Oakhurst.

When Nordhoff wasn’t taking the Warriors’ passing apart with its serving, the Rangers were wrecking Carpinteria’s defense with solid hitting. The balanced Rangers had three players with nine or more kills.

Sami Sawyer led the attack with 11 kills, followed by Allison Kerr and Alison Nofrey with nine each. Sami Sawyer added five aces, 15 assists and two blocks.