How Sweet It Is for Royal Girls

Courtney Guerra of Royal was munching on a post-match sugar cookie, not exactly the snack of champions, but it didn’t really matter.

Royal defeated Westlake, 15-11, 15-8, 15-13, on Tuesday night in Simi Valley and all but clinched its first outright Marmonte League title since 1991.

Guerra pounded 21 kills for the Highlanders (21-3, 10-0 in league play), who own a 2 1/2-game lead over Westlake (11-3, 7-2) and have matches remaining against Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.

“It’s just kind of soaking in,” Guerra said between bites. “It’s the first time in a long time we’ve won league.”

Toni-Ann Merendino, who stands only 5 feet 6, delivered 15 kills, following her nine kills in another sweep of the Warriors earlier this month.

“She flat-out owns Westlake,” Coach Bob Ferguson of Royal said. “She’s got their number.”

Teresa Russell and Kellie Lyons each had 10 kills for Royal, ranked No. 2 in the region by The Times.

Despite dropping only one game in league play this season, the Highlanders were lethargic recently, a fact Ferguson attributed to difficult practices.

Practice was canceled Friday in lieu of team pictures and practice was light Monday.

“We wanted them to have their legs [Tuesday night],” Ferguson said. “They certainly did.”

Westlake, ranked No. 6 in the region, had its chances in all three games.

The Warriors trailed the first game, 13-10, and the second, 9-8, and led the third game, 13-11, but could not close.

“We did not score points on our serve when we needed to,” Coach Karen Suppan Klee of Westlake said.

The Warriors did improve their serve receive after nearly being aced off the court in the first meeting against Royal, allowing only two on Tuesday.

The match marked the end of an era for the Warriors, who won the last two league titles and shared the title in 1995 with Royal and two other teams.

“It’s a different team,” said Stacey Lee, who played a key defensive role for the Warriors last year. “We don’t have that base [of eight seniors] that we had last year. We have to play harder this year.”

Lee, more of an offensive threat this season, had 15 kills for Westlake and Tawny Thorp had nine.