Same Old Story for Harvard-Westlake With Rival

In yet another chapter of what has become a tense rivalry, Harvard-Westlake High lost to Bishop Montgomery in girls’ volleyball.

“Again,” Harvard-Westlake Coach Jess Quiroz said.

Bishop Montgomery, ranked No. 1 in the state Division III poll, downed No. 3 Harvard-Westlake, 15-11, 5-15, 15-3, 15-3, Tuesday night in a nonleague match at Harvard-Westlake.

Middle blocker Katie Olsovsky had 25 kills and seven blocks for Bishop Montgomery (5-1), which dominated the third and fourth games and led Quiroz to reevaluate his lineup.

“I’ll have to go back and look at the film and maybe rearrange a little bit,” he said. “Passing broke down and our transition was ugly.”

The teams share plenty of history.

In 1995, Harvard-Westlake defeated Bishop Montgomery in the Southern Section Division III-A championship and again in the state Division III semifinals en route to the school’s first state title.

In 1996, Bishop Montgomery defeated Harvard-Westlake in the state semifinals.

With the victory Tuesday, the Knights have won the last three regular-season matches against the Wolverines.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” said outside hitter Anne Jakle, who had 10 kills for Harvard-Westlake. “Errors kept piling on top of errors. Lots of mistakes.”

The Wolverines (2-1) played without opposite hitter Liz Gelbard, who sprained her left ankle two weeks ago and is expected to return Tuesday against Fountain Valley.