Pavlik Leads Monarchs; Sailors Next

The girls’ volleyball state tournament is about second chances for Mater Dei, and the Monarchs got it started right with a decisive 15-7, 15-8, 15-8 victory over host Del Mar Torrey Pines in a Division I first-round match Tuesday.

Senior middle blocker Lindsay Pavlik, who has committed to Northwestern, had 18 kills and two blocks to lead Mater Dei past a sluggish Torrey Pines team that never got into rhythm.

Mater Dei (18-2) advances to play at Southern Section Division I-AA three-time champion Newport Harbor in the second round Saturday. Torrey Pines finished 28-6 after winning the San Diego Section Division I title last week, their 11th section title.

“We came out flat tonight, period,” Torrey Pines Coach Lars Trupe said. “We didn’t execute and against a team that keeps the ball in play and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, that’s what is going to happen.

“We just didn’t do what we needed to do to give them a match.”

The only life Torrey Pines showed was in Game 3. Setter Sheyna Greenamyer served for three consecutive points, including an ace to give the Falcons an 8-6 lead.

That prompted Mater Dei Coach Craig Pazanti to slam down his clipboard, call a time out, then give his team some fiery instruction.

“I was having flashbacks to Saturday,” said Pazanti, who watched his team lose in four games to Santa Barbara San Marcos in Saturday’s Southern Section Division I-A championship match.

“We’ve been having trouble finishing games. Maybe I was too kind to them Saturday and I didn’t push them hard enough. That wasn’t going to happen again.”

Torrey Pines never scored another point.

Pavlik had five kills and a block in the rest of the game, with her 18th kill giving the Monarchs a side out leading 13-8. After Mater Dei’s Katie Kahlweiss spiked from the left side for a kill and a 14-8 lead, sophomore Whitney Pavlik, Lindsay’s younger sister, and setter Jennifer Ward combined to block Natalie Sande for match point.

It was a fitting finish for Torrey Pines.

Sande, the hero in Torrey Pines’ five-game victory over Poway in the San Diego Section final, never got in sync Tuesday. Sande, who has committed to San Francisco, finished with only nine kills.

But Mater Dei’s offense wasn’t at its best with sophomore Breegan Mulligan a prime example. One of the Monarchs go-to players, Mulligan struggled, finishing with five kills and four hitting errors in 22 attempts.

But Mater Dei still cruised into Saturday’s showdown with Newport Harbor.

“Two years ago, we lost to Marina in the Division I-A final and lost our first match in the state tournament,” Lindsay Pavlik said. “[Monday], it was pretty hard getting back at it in practice, but we set a goal to do better than we did two years ago.”

Ward, who was also on the ’97 Division I-A runner-up team, said the Monarchs are determined not to squander this second chance. The next step is a second chance for Newport Harbor, which lost its only match of the season to Mater Dei in four games on Oct. 15.

“[When] we play Newport, it’s going to be tough,” Ward said. “We have to act like we never beat them before and work just as hard. We’d like to prove that the first match wasn’t a fluke.

“We want to prove that our season wasn’t a fluke.”

In another Division I match:

Newport Harbor 3, Poway 0--Newport Harbor knocked off Poway High, 15-7, 15-9, 15-7.

April Ross had 13 kills and Heather Cullen added nine for the Sailors (34-2), who are the defending state champions.

Poway started the scoring with four quick points, before the Sailors recovered.

Poway’s 4-0 lead in the first game was its only one of the night. Newport Harbor started strong in the second and third games.

Ross had eight kills in the second game to lead the Sailors, who jumped out to an early 7-1 lead.