Third Time Charming for Eagles

No one beats Santa Margarita three years in a row in the girls’ state volleyball finals.

Mountain View St. Francis did it twice, but Santa Margarita seniors Monique Gerlach, Michelle Davis and Caroline Skacel ensured that there would be no three-peat Saturday night at Cypress College. The three combined for 62 kills and led the Eagles to their first state girls’ volleyball title, winning the Division II championship in four games, 16-14, 16-14, 5-15, 15-7.

Just as Chrissy Bloomgren’s spike hit the ground, Santa Margarita’s bench players poured out onto the floor to mob their teammates. Gerlach said the victory was more about beating St. Francis than it was about winning the title.

“We weren’t thinking that our school had never won a state title,” said Gerlach, who had a game-high 22 kills and 11 blocks. “It was more or less revenge for the last two years.”

It was Gerlach who guaranteed victory after the semifinal victory over Lakewood St. Joseph.

“I knew we were going to take it,” Gerlach said. “When I said that, I think they all agreed with me. After the last two years, I knew there was no other way we wanted to end our high school careers than winning our last game.”

The Eagles (23-6) didn’t do it the easy way. They were on the brink of losing the first and second games, trailing 14-12 in the first and 14-11 in the second. But every time they needed a crucial kill or block, it seemed Gerlach, Davis or Skacel was there.

“It seemed like they were the ones making the big plays,” St. Francis Coach Dave Gambelin said. “Those are ones these guys have made all year, but they didn’t make them tonight.”

St. Francis (28-2) entered the game ranked second in the state, with its only loss coming to top-ranked Newport Harbor in five games.

Gambelin said his team had no answers for the Eagles’ outside hitters.

“Skacel and Davis played extremely well,” he said. “We couldn’t seem to block them. I haven’t seen that happen all year.”

Santa Margarita gave St. Francis some hope in the third game, falling behind early because of some communication problems and never threatening. But the Eagles went up 6-0 in the fourth game and never led by fewer than six points.

Davis, who had 20 kills and six blocks, was named tournament MVP. Gerlach and setter Anna Mosich (29 assists, three digs) were named to the all-tournament team.