Harvard-Westlake Floored in Loss to Corona del Mar

The attitude of the Harvard-Westlake High girls’ volleyball team before the Southern California Regional semifinal game was one of supreme confidence.

Maybe even overconfidence.

After all, the Wolverines had already played their opponent twice earlier in the season and won both times.

But the third time proved to be a charm for Corona del Mar, which swept the Wolverines off their own floor and out of the state playoffs with a 15-8, 15-3, 15-7 upset.

“They beat us in every aspect of the game and they played almost a flawless match,” Coach Jeff Quiroz of Harvard-Westlake said.

Sophomore middle blocker Courtney Schultz led the Wolverines (25-7) with 15 kills, but her play was overshadowed by that of Dimitra Havriluk of Corona del Mar, who had 27 kills, six blocks and four aces.

“What makes them so tough is that they have three really good hitters who can attack all over the court,” Schultz said. “We could have played better defense, but we did the best we could.”

Corona took an 8-7 lead in game one and from then on it was clear it was not going to be Harvard-Westlake’s night.

The Sea Queens went on a 7-1 run to close out the game.

The Wolverines were never in game two. Corona (22-10) built a 10-0 lead by the time Harvard-Westlake got its second sideout.

“When we played them [in the Southern Section playoffs], we panicked in some situations,” said Coach Steve Conti of Corona del Mar, whose team lost to Harvard-Westlake in a preseason tournament and in the Division III-A semifinals two weeks ago.

“But by losing, we learned what it takes to win.”

Harvard-Westlake had a chance to get back into the match when it took a 4-0 lead in game three. But Corona del Mar crept back point-by-point, took the lead, 6-5, and never looked back.

“We had beaten them twice before, so we were thinking, no competition, we’re going to win,” senior Jessica Kronstadt of Harvard-Westlake said. “But they deserved to win and we can hold our heads high. No one thought we’d get this far.”

Kronstadt had 13 digs and Leslie Meller added 27 assists for Harvard-Westlake.