Liberty Christian Near Final

Most of the usual suspects advanced efficiently to tonight’s Southern Section girls’ volleyball semifinals in the nine divisions.

Orange County’s top-seeded teams--Newport Harbor (Division I-AA), Mater Dei (I-A), Santa Margarita (II-AA) and St. Margaret’s (V-AA)--all advanced, winning a combined 33 of 34 games.

La Habra (II-A), Corona del Mar (III-AA), Laguna Beach (IV-AA) and Calvary Chapel (IV-A), all previous winners of section titles, also advanced to the semifinals.

But third-seeded Liberty Christian (18-0) is a relative newcomer to the postseason spotlight, and the Minutemen will try to advance to their first section final in school history when they play at second-seeded Thousand Oaks Hillcrest Christian (22-1) tonight.

Liberty Christian Coach Jim Gane, who has coached the girls’ team from 1986 to 1992 and since ‘96, said his team won’t mind the trip.

“Thousand Oaks sounds a lot better than Boron, Mammoth or Ojai,” Gane said. “With the small schools, you learn to be flexible.”

Liberty Christian defeated Santa Barbara Laguna Blanca, 15-8, 9-15, 15-11, 15-2, in Saturday’s quarterfinals behind 21 kills from Chrissy Davis.

Setter Felicia Jao, the Express League’s MVP last season, and sophomore middle blockers Jessica Cure and Jenny Houser also have played key roles during the Minutemen’s undefeated season.

“It’s pretty neat what we’ve done considering we have no club volleyball players,” Gane said. “This team just finds a way to win.”

MATCH OF THE NIGHT

Tonight’s Division I-AA semifinal between top-seeded Newport Harbor and fourth-seeded Esperanza could easily have been the division’s championship match. It features two league champions and some of the top players in the county.

Newport Harbor continues its quest to become the first team to win three consecutive top-division section girls’ volleyball titles.

The Sailors are led by last season’s Times Orange County player of the year, April Ross, who has committed to USC, and Duke-bound middle blocker Krista Dill.

Esperanza setter Toni Anderson, who also has committed to USC, and Purdue-bound middle blocker Laura St. John lead the Aztecs.

“We lost a big coin flip and I’m not thrilled about going up to play at their place,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. “When we’re playing well, we’re good. But we haven’t been too consistent this season.”

A SORT OF HOMECOMING

San Clemente had to travel 150-plus miles to take on second-seeded Santa Barbara San Marcos in a Division I-A quarterfinal Saturday.

But at least the Royals accommodated the Tritons by moving the match to 3 p.m. so some of the San Clemente players could make it back in time for part of the school’s homecoming dance.

Unfortunately for the South Coast League champions, San Marcos won in three games behind an impressive performance of Jaima Ortega, a 6-foot-2 senior who will play at Pacific next season.

“They’re good,” San Clemente Coach Rob O’Rear said. “Ortega is unbelievable. You won’t find anyone around who is that big with those kinds of hops.”

Next up for San Marcos is third-seeded Huntington Beach.

DON’T JINX THIS BUT . . .

It wasn’t long ago that Mater Dei Coach Craig Pazanti and Huntington Beach Coach Isaac Owens were yucking it up on the same bench as assistant coaches under Rocky Ciarelli, Huntington Beach boys’ coach. If Mater Dei and Huntington Beach win their semifinal matches tonight, the former coaching comrades will meet this weekend in the Division I-A final.

“It was one of the goals I set at the beginning of the season,” Owens said.

But each team has a major hurdle to clear tonight.

Top-seeded Mater Dei, the Serra League co-champion with Santa Margarita, is favored at home, but the Monarchs will host fourth-seeded Santa Barbara, the No. 2 team from the tough Channel League.

Third-seeded Huntington Beach, which shared the Sunset League title with Esperanza, is a slight underdog against second-seeded San Marcos, the Channel League champion.

San Marcos is led by Ortega and outside hitter Erica Menzel, who has committed to UC Santa Barbara.

The teams met earlier this season, with Huntington Beach winning in four games. But Menzel did not play in that match. She had 20 kills in the quarterfinal victory over San Clemente.

If you have an item or idea for the girls’ volleyball report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at mike.itagaki@latimes.com