Ocean View Holds On to Win First Title

It took 2 1/2 hours, then Torrance Bishop Montgomery blinked.

In a tight, well-played match, Ocean View watched the Knights erase an eight-point lead in the fifth game before rebounding to score the final four points to win the school’s first Southern Section girls’ volleyball championship, 15-13, 14-16, 14-16, 16-14, 15-11, in the Division III-A final Friday at Long Beach State.

Two hitting errors and a passing error by the Knights gave the Seahawks their first match point, then Kelly Jameson served an ace to win it.

“When you have two great teams like this, you’re always going to have a five-gamer,” Bishop Montgomery Coach Kim Willeman said. “Our kids were pushing as hard as they could, we just made some mental mistakes when we shouldn’t have.”

It was the second consecutive five-game victory for Ocean View (17-1), which defeated North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake in the semifinals Tuesday. The Knights (16-2), who were playing in their sixth final, had eliminated Ocean View last year in the semifinals.

“We remembered that,” said Amy Knebel, who had a team-high 21 kills for Ocean View. “We knew we’d end up playing them in the finals.”

Ocean View Coach Tim Mennealy didn’t look much like someone who just helped make school history.

“I’m not real emotional, just real satisfied,” Mennealy said. “These kids have worked hard for this and have been waiting for three or four years.”

Ocean View blew a 13-9 lead and lost the second game, 16-14, then it lost leads of 12-9 and 13-11 in the fourth game to find itself facing a match point trailing, 14-13. But the Knight service error gave the Seahawks a side out.

Then the Knights’ offense cracked. Outside hitter Dana Coffey (25 kills) and middle blocker Katie Olsovsky (27 kills) gave Ocean View fits all night, but Olsovsky tipped the ball wide on two consecutive points to put Ocean View ahead, 15-14.

Ocean View’s Sharon Shelton, who had 17 kills, spiked from the left side to force a fifth game.

“When we blew those leads, we knew we just had to focus,” said Shelby Jameson, who had 17 kills. “We knew we could play better, we just had to push through it.”