Mater Dei Calms Down, Advances

Fountain Valley put a mild scare into Mater Dei by rallying to win the first game of their Southern Section Division I-A semifinal match.

But the Monarchs had too many weapons for the Sunset League co-champions, and Mater Dei won to reach its first girls’ volleyball section championship match, 11-15, 15-12, 15-11, 15-3, Tuesday at Mater Dei High.

Lauren Warner had 25 kills and Amy DeCinces added 21 to lead a balanced attack for the Monarchs (21-1), the top-seeded team in the division and also top-ranked team in the state Division I.

Mater Dei will play Marina (17-2), which shared the Sunset League title with Fountain Valley (17-3), in Saturday’s championship match at either Long Beach State or Cerritos College.

“The kids came in a little too excited,” Mater Dei Coach Ron Cheser said. “We had to calm them down a bit and just get them to play their game instead of overplaying and trying to kill everything . . . just stay relaxed.”

Cheser didn’t look too comfortable after Mater Dei blew a 6-1 lead before losing the first game then watched the Monarchs fall behind, 9-7, in the second game.

But then Warner turned it up a notch and had six of her 11 kills in the game after that point, then Megan Sabo blocked Fountain Valley’s Kristin Deatherage for game point, 15-12.

But setter Katie Rice (59 assists, 27 digs) had plenty of options besides Warner. Katie Beauregard (11 kills), Megan Sabo (six kills) and Lindsay Pavlik (five kills, four blocks) all chipped in.

And DeCinces carried the load in the third game when she had nine kills to help the Monarchs win, 15-11, after Fountain Valley had pulled to within, 11-9.

That loss in the third game took all the steam out of the Barons, whose passing became less precise as the match wore on. They lost 11 of the first 12 points in the fourth game and never recovered.