Marina Wins Volleyball Title

Marina jumped in front early and went on to capture the Sunset League girls’ volleyball title with a 15-10, 15-13, 10-15, 15-12 victory Tuesday at Esperanza.

The Vikings (13-1, 9-0), second-ranked in Southern Section Division IA, raced to an 11-0 lead in the second game, but in the third the Aztecs (10-5, 6-3), ranked fifth in Division IA, opened a 13-8 lead.

Marina grabbed a 5-0 lead in the final game, but had to rally from a 10-8 deficit to put the match away.

“We didn’t communicate too well in the third game,” said Marina senior outside hitter Sarah Smith, who had four kills, a block and three aces. “But after that we ran our plays and did what we are supposed to do. This is something we have always wanted to do, win the title by ourselves.”

Marina, the defending state Division I champion, shared the league title with Fountain Valley last season.

Right-side hitter Chanda McLeod (28 kills, four aces) led the Vikings. Outside hitter Katie Keating had 16 kills and setter Ashlee Phillips added 51 assists and three blocks.

Laura St. John had 13 kills and Julia Rex had 12 for the Aztecs.

In another league match:

Edison 3, Fountain Valley 1--Lauren Belcher and Christina Patterson each had 13 kills to lead Edison, 11-15, 15-5, 15-6, 15-7. Edison is 8-12, 3-6. Fountain Valley is 2-13, 2-7.

In the Century League:

Foothill 3, Santa Ana Valley 0--Danielle Bauer had 20 kills and Crystal Richardson had 30 assists for Foothill (12-9, 9-0), which clinched the league title with a 15-2, 15-1, 15-7 victory.

In the Empire League:

Cypress 3, Century 0--Dusty Creager had 12 kills and Amanda Meixel added 27 assists as Cypress won, 15-6, 15-6, 15-3, to clinch a share of the league title.

In the Freeway League:

Sonora 3, Sunny Hills 2--Jasmine Raphael had 22 kills and six blocks for Sunny Hills (11-9, 5-4), which lost, 10-15, 15-7, 15-12, 14-16, 15-13. If Sonora beats La Habra on Thursday, it will be league co-champions.

In the Garden Grove League:

La Quinta 3, Rancho Alamitos 0--Tina Nguyen had 15 assists and three aces to help La Quinta win, 15-9, 15-5, 15-10, and take the league title outright.

In the South Coast League:

Capistrano Valley 3, Trabuco Hills 0--Ashley Thometz had 10 kills in the 15-6, 15-11, 15-5 victory for Capistrano Valley (16-1, 8-1). The Cougars are ranked third in Division IAA.

Mater Dei 3, Dana Hills 1--Lindsay Pavlik had 15 kills and Katie Beauregard added 13 in the 13-15, 15-5, 15-5, 15-6 victory. Jen Ward had 10 kills and 31 assists for the Monarchs (8-1 in league).

In the Academy League boys’ cross-country finals:

Downey Calvary Chapel wins title--St. Margaret’s Tom Forquer took first in 18 minutes 18 seconds but it was Shaun Fitzgerald’s second-place finish (18:42) on the 3.2-mile course that helped Downey Calvary Chapel to the league title at Irvine Regional Park. Calvary Chapel finished with 20 points. Defending champion St. Margaret’s took second (42), followed by St. Michael’s (79 points), Capistrano Valley Christian (117) and Fairmont (121). Josh Hannan placed third in 18:46. Calvary Chapel had six runners place among the top 10.

In Academy League girls’ cross-country finals:

St. Margaret’s runners finish first and second--Jacqueline Wilkins took first (20:19) and Kipp Downey was second (20:19) at Irvine Regional Park to lead St. Margaret’s to its second straight league title with 21 points. Downey Calvary Chapel was second (48) and Capistrano Valley Christian (79).

In the Sea View League girls’ golf individual finals:

Mulhaupt wins title--Santa Margarita’s Megan Mulhaupt shot a nine-over 81 to finish with a two-day total of 175 to win the individual honors at Redhawk. Channing Lovejoy of Woodbridge finished second with a score of 185.

In the Sunset League:

Marina 156, Esperanza 156 (Marina wins on extra hole, 11-12)--Courtney Goebel, who won the individual league title Monday, shot seven-over 43, including a par on the final playoff hole, to lead Marina (15-1, 9-0) at Yorba Linda.

In Century League girls’ tennis:

El Modena 9, Canyon 9 (El Modena wins on games, 85-77)--Allison Heil and Haile Newsom won their final set, 7-5, to help El Modena upset Canyon. The victory gives the Vanguards (11-7, 6-4) third place in league. Canyon (11-8, 7-3) finished second.

Villa Park 14, Orange 4--Tina Pattara and Kristin Lawson teamed up for 6-1, 6-1, 6-0, victories to lead Villa Park (11-6, 10-0) to its fifth straight league title. The Spartans were undefeated in those league seasons.

In the Freeway League:

La Habra 10, Sonora 8--Jennifer Groover defeated Rachel Hunt, 6-3, to clinch the victory for La Habra (14-4, 6-4) on her 17th birthday. La Habra finished third in league to clinch a playoff spot for the second straight year.

In the Garden Grove League:

Garden Grove 13, Pacifica 5--Thuy Vo won two of three sets in to lead Garden Grove (17-3, 12-0), which earned its fourth straight league championship, the last two with undefeated league records.