Taft Wins First Two Games Before Losing to San Pedro

Taft High was playing San Pedro, but Coach Doug Magorien saw somebody else out there.

As San Pedro was warmed up, Magorien compared the Pirates to Chatsworth, a league rival that defeated Taft twice with superior ball-control and serving skills.

San Pedro, seeded No. 9, proved him correct and defeated the eighth-seeded Toreadors, 12-15, 13-15, 15-5, 15-7, 15-7, in the first round of the City Championship girls’ volleyball playoffs Monday at Taft.

Trisha Bratford, a 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter, finished with a career-high 31 kills, but could not extend her high-school career.

Bratford, who arrived home from a recruiting trip to Florida A&M; around midnight Sunday, showed few signs of jet lag.

Bratford had 10 kills in the first game and six in the second for Taft (11-3). She had two kills in the third game and 13 more in the final two.

In the fifth game, Taft led 5-0, but could not capitalize. With the Toreadors clinging to a 7-6 lead, San Pedro scored the final nine points of the match, several of them on aces.

“Our passing got kind of sloppy,” Bratford said. “We had several crucial balls that we had to get in at crucial times, but we just couldn’t do it.”

Danielle Lyons, an outside hitter for San Pedro (13-1), delivered 14 of her 21 kills in the final two games.