Santa Barbara San Marcos Recovers to Sweep Aside Tritons

San Clemente looked sharp early, but second-seeded Santa Barbara San Marcos was sharper and the Royals won a Southern Section Division I-A girls’ volleyball quarterfinal, 15-12, 15-7, 15-11, Saturday at San Marcos High.

Jaima Ortega had 20 kills, three blocks and 11 digs and Erica Menzel had 17 kills, three blocks and 11 digs to lead San Marcos (16-5), which will play Huntington Beach in the semifinals Tuesday.

Ortega, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker who has committed to Pacific, had nine kills in the third game, including kills for San Marcos’ final two side outs and final two points. Ortega also punctuated the Royals’ rally from an 11-9 deficit in the final game.

“Luckily, that was our best performance of the season,” San Marcos Coach Jon Lee said. “San Clemente was tough. But today, we had very few hitting errors, served tough and put up a good block, getting our hands on almost every shot.”

Although San Clemente (13-6) exited with a sweep, the match was a lot closer than the score. Senior outside hitter Kimberly Noble had 13 kills and 15 digs and setter Claire Thompson, who has committed to Montana, had 36 assists and 14 digs for the Tritons.

“The first and third games were indicative of what we were capable of,” San Clemente Coach Rob O’Rear said. “But it came down to who would make the fewest mistakes in the key moments.

“San Marcos was passing with confidence and playing great defense. That’s a good team.”

So good that although San Clemente came out hot, San Marcos eventually outlasted the Tritons to win the first game.

San Clemente sophomore middle blocker Kathleen Daly had eight of her 14 kills in the first game, when the Tritons moved ahead, 10-7.

San Clemente led, 12-11, before San Marcos rallied, scoring four consecutive points, winning on an overpass kill by San Marcos’ Jennifer Longpre.

“I thought all the games were going to be that close,” O’Rear said. “I was ready for an all-out brawl. But I don’t know what happened, losing focus in the second game.”

San Marcos raced to a 10-1 lead in the second game with Menzel, who has committed to UC Santa Barbara, tallying seven kills.

Although San Clemente closed to 13-7, Ortega and freshman setter Mandy Bible combined to block Noble for a point, and another San Clemente hitting error by Daly closed out the game.