San Marcos Trips Up Mater Dei

Although it took four games, second-seeded Santa Barbara San Marcos efficiently carved up top-seeded Mater Dei, 15-11, 12-15, 15-9, 15-7, to win the Southern Section Division I-A girls’ volleyball championship match Saturday at Cypress College.

Jaima Ortega, a 6-foot-2 senior middle blocker who has committed to Pacific, had 25 kills and eight blocks and senior Erica Menzel had 14 kills and 16 digs to lead the Royals to their first section title.

It was sweet redemption for San Marcos, which fell one step short two seasons ago when Menzel and Ortega were sophomores, losing in the Division II-AA final to Santa Margarita in five games.

“Losing by only three points two years ago, that made us want it more,” said Menzel, who has committed to UC Santa Barbara. “We all had confidence in each other and we were pretty fired up.”

Mater Dei (17-2) struggled at times, and the Royals (18-5) capitalized.

“That’s obviously not our best match,” Mater Dei Coach Craig Pazanti said. “But San Marcos had a lot to do with that. They played phenomenal defense and out-dug us and out-passed us.”

The Monarchs’ passing faded in and out and that made it tougher for setter Jennifer Ward, who still finished with 52 assists.

Mater Dei’s Lindsay Pavlik, who finished with 23 kills and 18 digs; Breegan Mulligan, who had 15 kills, and Katie Kahlweiss, who had 11, gave Ward plenty of options.

But when the Monarchs struggled with their passing, the offense became more predictable. San Marcos had 13 blocks to only three for Mater Dei.

“When we passed, we were siding out fine,” Pazanti said. “But when we didn’t pass well, we were in a lot of trouble. We got stuck in a couple ruts and they took advantage of it.”

Mater Dei led Game 1, 11-7, but San Marcos scored the final eight points. Any momentum the Monarchs had gained by winning Game 2 was squashed when the Royals took a 10-3 lead in Game 3, which Menzel and Ortega closed out with two kills.

Game 4 was more of the same. Digging the ball consistently, the Royals put together a six-point run during setter Mandy Bible’s serve to take command with a 10-5 lead.

San Marcos ended it with Menzel digging a spike attempt by Mulligan and Ortega putting one away from the middle for a 15-7 victory.

“That was a great match,” San Marcos Coach Jon Lee said. “If you didn’t come with your best shot or hit it your hardest, that ball came back. It’s the kind of toughness test I like to see us pass.”