Harvard-Westlake Can’t Stop Bishop Montgomery

Seven was anything but lucky for Harvard-Westlake High.

On the verge of forcing a fifth game against top-seeded Bishop Montgomery, the Wolverines held a 7-1 lead in the fourth game of the Southern Section Division III-AA girls’ volleyball championship.

But their passing broke down, their offense withered and points became scarce for the Wolverines on Friday night at Cypress College.

Very scarce.

Bishop Montgomery scored the next 13 points before ending the match a few side-outs later, with Bishop Montgomery winning, 15-8, 13-15, 15-10, 15-9.

It is Bishop Montgomery’s third Southern Section title in four years.

“If I had a million dollars, I would have bet we’d won that last game,” said Harvard-Westlake Coach Jess Quiroz.

Katie Olsovsky, who has committed to USC, had 21 kills and seven blocks for Bishop Montgomery (28-30.

“Even though we were down, we tried not to think about what the scoreboard said,” said Olsovsky, who had eight kills and two blocks in the fourth game. “Instead, we wanted to go point by point.”

Second-seeded Harvard-Westlake had similar problems with seven in the second game, taking a 7-0 lead before giving up nine unanswered points. That time, however, Harvard-Westlake (22-6) rallied to win the game and tie the match.

The Wolverines held a 10-9 lead in the third game but failed to get a kill the rest of the game.

Courtney Schultz finished with 16 kills and Ashley Julian added 14 for Harvard-Westlake, which was outblocked, 15-2.

Bishop Montgomery can expect to be seeded No. 1 in the Southern Regional of the state tournament, which begins Tuesday.

If it’s any consolation for the Wolverines, they likely will be seeded No. 2, meaning a potential rematch with Bishop Montgomery in the regional championship could be a week-and-half away.

“I’m excited to see them again in state,” Schultz said. “I think we can make a lot of improvements on defense.”