PREP ROUNDUP : Mater Dei Sweeps Capistrano Valley

It was over before anyone could say, “bet it will go five.”

In a South Coast League contest that resembled a sprint race more than a volleyball match, Mater Dei made mincemeat out of Capistrano Valley, sweeping to a 15-5, 15-3, 15-4 victory Monday night at Mater Dei.

The match, which took about an hour, was a surprise considering the match was between the fifth-ranked Cougars and sixth-ranked Monarchs. Count Mater Dei among the shocked.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” Mater Dei Coach Laura Kennedy said. “Capistrano Valley has a lot of tradition. They weren’t really fighting.”

Capistrano Valley (6-5, 3-2) did everything to lose this one but walk off the court, gather its belongings and scram. Easy digs and sure-thing kills weren’t, passing was wild, serving was inconsistent.

Even the fundamentals were foreign to the Cougars, and Capistrano Valley Coach John Gipe came down hard on his players.

“No one cares if we win or lose. We have no heart. You can’t beat teams like this without heart,” said Gipe, who struggled to explain his players’ lack of enthusiasm. “I honestly don’t know. We haven’t played well for three weeks. I hope they realize that half the season’s over.”

Capistrano Valley began the second and third games with leads of 3-1 and 4-1, but lost them quickly and never made a serious threat.

“We were passing well, setting better and our blocking got up,” Mater Dei sophomore outside hitter Roberta Gehlke said.

In all fairness, Capistrano Valley’s uninspired play didn’t take away from Mater Dei’s effort. After the Monarchs’ four-game loss Thursday to Mission Viejo--a team that had been winless in league play--Mater Dei was determined to turn things around.

“We were really upset after that,” said Gehlke, who had 14 kills and ended the match with one from the back row. “I think we were really overconfident against (Mission Viejo).”

The Monarchs (7-1, 4-1) played nearly flawless volleyball, and with more unity than before. After a poor performance in the Orange County Championships at the beginning of the season, Kennedy had her players re-evaluate themselves.

“When we didn’t get to the semifinals there, I was depressed,” Kennedy said. “But we started thinking about short-term goals instead of CIF, and the girls started playing more like a team rather than a bunch of individuals.”

In nonleague water polo:

Servite 13, Santa Margarita 11--Brian Heifferon scored six goals for host Servite. Sasha Obaid recorded six saves in the victory.

In nonleague girls’ tennis:

Corona Del Mar 10, Santa Barbara 8--Corona Del Mar (11-1), the third-ranked team in the Southern Section Division I poll, won six of nine singles sets to earn the victory over Santa Barbara.

Santa Ana 11, Orange 7--Olivia Prudencio swept her singles sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0. The doubles team of Karin Nakamura and Nancy Cuellar swept their sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. Santa Ana improved to 3-8.

El Toro 15, Valencia 3--Kate Kunnath and Janaye Johnson led El Toro (5-7) to victory by sweeping all three of their singles sets. Kunnath swept, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1 and Johnson swept, 7-5, 7-5, 6-1. Valencia is 13-3.