Harvard-Westlake Lets It Slip Away

Harvard-Westlake High couldn’t hold a lead.

Shortly thereafter, the Wolverines lost a grip on their season.

Despite leading in every game, Harvard-Westlake fell to Ocean View, 15-10, 13-15, 15-10, 15-17, 15-11, Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Southern Section Division III-A girls’ volleyball playoffs at Ocean View.

The most devastating reversal came in the fifth game, with the third-seeded Wolverines leading, 10-5, and apparently on their way to the sectional final.

But second-seeded Ocean View (15-1), as it had done all night, came back and outscored Harvard-Westlake down the stretch, 10-1.

“We didn’t terminate when we had the chance,” Harvard-Westlake Coach Jess Quiroz said. “We didn’t finish it. Instead, we took easy shots, roll shots.”

The Wolverines (15-4) led the first game, 10-6, but gave up the final nine points when Ocean View toughened its defense at the net and fed Amy Knebel, who had four kills in the later stages.

Knebel, who has committed to Rhode Island, finished with 26 kills for the Seahawks, who play Bishop Montgomery in the final Friday or Saturday at a site to be determined.

“They didn’t have to deal with a lot of adversity the past four or five weeks,” Ocean View Coach Tim Mennealy said. “Until they’re pushed, they don’t realize what their potential is. Tonight, they were pushed.”

The Wolverines frittered away another lead in the second game as Ocean View turned deficits of 8-1 and 9-5 into a 13-9 lead.

This time, the Wolverines were ready for a comeback of their own and, behind two kills and a block by Michelle Wong, scored the next six points to tie the match.

In the third game, Harvard-Westlake only had one lead, at 1-0. The Seahawks grabbed 7-2 and 11-7 advantages and despite fighting off three game points, the Wolverines found themselves down in games, 2-1.

The loss marks the first time since 1994 that the Wolverines will not be in a Southern Section championship match.

“It could have gone either way,” said Wong, who finished with 22 kills for Harvard-Westlake. “We played as a team, we lost as a team.”

Joanna August had 17 kills and Carissa Abbott added 22 kills and nine blocks for Harvard-Westlake, which fought off two match points before winning the fourth game.

Sharon Shelton had 21 kills for Ocean View.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is the final tonight,” said Quiroz, who was unhappy the teams were not seeded to meet in the final. “It’s too bad it happened that way.”