Westlake Can’t Take Five

One year later, Westlake High was still on the wrong end of a five-game loss to Santa Margarita.

For the second time in a year, Santa Margarita rallied for a victory against Westlake, 6-15, 15-13, 5-15, 15-3, 16-14, in the State Division II girls’ volleyball semifinals Tuesday night at Westlake.

Santa Margarita, which led the fifth game by a 10-1 score, found itself trailing, 14-11, after a furious rally by Westlake.

But the Eagles fought off three match points and, with Suzanne Sarkees serving, scored five consecutive points to end the match.

“It was a barnburner to the very end,” Westlake Coach Chris Rundle said. “We could play them tomorrow and it could be the same score [in Westlake’s favor].”

Westlake (35-4) lost a stunner to the Eagles in last year’s Southern Section II-A championship match, squandering a 2-0 lead in games and falling in five.

The Warriors beat Santa Margarita in five games earlier this season in the Santa Barbara tournament.

“I thought we had it,” middle blocker Erika Denison said.

Instead, Santa Margarita (20-3) tied the match, 2-2, on the strength of seven kills by Stanford-bound Michelle Chambers.

Chambers had four kills and three aces as the Eagles came out flying in the final game.

Westlake overcame the deficit behind six kills from Heather Hutchison, who finished with 22, and five kills from Courtney Miller, who had 15.

But the Eagles, with two kills and a block down the stretch from Washington-bound Kiki Maroutsos, were too much.

“In this matchup, who knows what’s going to happen,” Santa Margarita Coach Eddie Rapp said. “Fortunately for us, we ended up on top, but it could have gone either way.”

Westlake, which was sharp in the first game, took a 6-0 lead in the second before Chambers delivered six kills and an ace as Santa Margarita took a 12-9 lead.

The Warriors came back and trailed, 14-13, but Sarah Ballog came up with her fourth block of the game to tie the match, 1-1.

In the third game, the Warriors served four aces--three by Megan Mullen--as Santa Margarita’s passing broke down.

The Warriors did not win another game.

“We just started beating ourselves,” said Denison, who finished with 10 kills for Westlake. “We let passes be shanked and hits go into the net or go out. We could have easily taken this team.”

Santa Margarita, which won the Southern Section Division II-AA title, received 24 kills from Chambers and 11 from Lauren Heri.