PREP ROUNDUP : Dana Hills Defeats Capistrano Valley

What could possibly make up for last year, when Dana Hills ended its girls’ volleyball season with an eight-match losing streak?

“Nothing,” outside hitter Jeanne Vetter said. “Except a State championship.”

A State title is still a longshot, but with fourth-ranked Dana Hills’ 15-4, 16-14, 15-9 victory over No. 6 Capistrano Valley, the odds of a South Coast League title are good.

The Dolphins (11-1, 8-1) entered Tuesday night’s contest with a one-match league lead over Capistrano Valley (8-6, 6-3) and No. 5 Mater Dei. A Cougar victory would have created a three-way tie. Now, the Dolphins need a victory Thursday at San Clemente to wrap up their first South Coast League title.

After wasting an 11-4 lead in Game 2, the Cougars won 10 points in a row, but the Dolphins regrouped and won the game on an ace by Vetter.

“We’ve been coming back like that all year,” said Vetter, who had 19 kills, two aces and a block. Teammate Jenny Kessy added 15 kills and three aces.

The victory was equally sweet for Dana Hills Coach Mike Hurlbut, who finally may be ready to put last year’s fiasco to rest.

“Last year we ended the season losing to Capo 15-0 in the third game,” he said. “That punctuated the end of the streak.”