Small Goals, Big Results : Player of the Year Guerra Helped Royal’s Girls Ascend to New Heights

All Courtney Guerra wanted was to win the Marmonte League.

A small goal, a simple goal, especially in relation to everything she achieved this season.

A senior at Royal High, Guerra was part of the team that won the Marmonte League championship. And then some.

The Highlanders went on to win the Southern Section Division I-A title, the highest level at which any Royal team has ever won a championship.

As for small-goal Guerra? She was selected the Division I co-player of the year, less than a month after she committed to California.

The 5-foot-11 outside hitter is The Times’ player of the year in the region.

She set school records with 537 kills and 300 digs this season and set the school standard with 853 kills in her career. Her 41 kills in a match against Harvard-Westlake set another school record.

Small wonder the awards followed Guerra after the Highlanders’ season concluded.

“It didn’t seem like a big deal that I was playing that well, because I was doing it for my team,” said Guerra, who was also selected the Marmonte League player of the year.

Royal’s march through the Division I-A playoffs was more than any of the Highlanders envisioned before the season.

“It definitely surprised me,” she said. “I didn’t set that many goals before the season began. A realistic goal for us was to win Marmonte. We had no idea how good we were going to be.”

Guerra hammered plenty of shots from the outside, but she was also valuable defensively.

“She just wasn’t a hired gun, like a lot of people described her, based on all the kills she had,” Coach Bob Ferguson of Royal said.

The complete Guerra, who had 26 kills, only eight hitting errors and several well-timed digs in the championship match, left Ferguson with something to remember when she cried the entire ride home from Cypress College, site of the championship.

“It was almost like, OK, the pressure was finally off,” Ferguson said. “She kept a lot of it to herself, but she was finally able to let it go. We had reached a goal.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

FIRST TEAM

KRYSTAL McFARLAND, Buena

5-9, Junior

Setter/Outside Hitter

* McFarland, an All-Southern Section Division I selection, helped the Bulldogs win the I-A semifinals, the farthest they have advanced in school history.

*

BROOKE NILES, Calabasas

5-9, Senior

Outside Hitter

* A repeat selection to The Times’ team, Niles had 989 kills and a .625 hitting percentage the last two seasons. Has committed to UC Santa Barbara.

*

ANNE JAKLE, Harvard-Westlake

6-0, Senior

Outside/Opposite Hitter

* Three-year starter was a member of three sectional championship teams at Harvard-Westlake and a two-time All-Southern Section Division III selection.

*

MEGAN HOSP,

Flintridge Sacred Heart

5-9, Senior

Outside Hitter

* Repeat selection to the team, Hosp is a three-time All-Southern Section Division IV selection. Has committed to South Carolina.

*

ERRIN BENESH, Village Christian

6-1, Senior

Middle Blocker

* Set school record with 1,128 kills in her career and is a two-time All-Southern Section Division IV selection. Has committed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

*

TERESA RUSSELL, Royal

6-1, Senior

Middle Blocker

* Teamed with Courtney Guerra to give the Highlanders a formidable offense. Was a key defensive player for the Highlanders, the Division I-A champions.

SECOND TEAM

NEVADA BLONSTEIN, Notre Dame

5-7, Senior, Setter

* All-Southern Section Division III selection.

*

GABY GALLARDO, Poly

5-9, Senior,

Setter-Outside Hitter

* All-City Section selection.

*

STACEY LEE, Westlake

5-8, Junior, Outside Hitter

* All-Marmonte League selection.

*

MICHELLE FERRUCCI, Granada Hills

6-2, Senior, Middle Blocker

* Has committed to Oregon.

*

JENNIFER RYAN, La Reina

6-1, Sophomore, Middle Blocker

* One of the top sophomores in Southern California.

*

KASSY JIMENEZ, Sylmar

5-11, Junior, Middle Blocker

* All-City Section selection.