Mater Dei Reaches Final Again

Second-seeded Mater Dei got defensive in its Southern Section Division I-A girls’ volleyball playoff semifinal and the Monarchs advanced to their third final in four years by posting a 15-7, 15-4, 6-15, 15-6 victory over Huntington Beach Tuesday at Huntington Beach High.

Whitney Pavlik had 17 kills and seven blocks, Breegan Mulligan had 15 kills and seven blocks, and Kelley Kincheloe had six kills and nine blocks for Mater Dei, which advanced to play top-seeded Manhattan Beach Mira Costa. Third-seeded Huntington Beach ended the season 18-5.

Mater Dei (20-2) seized control from the outset, scoring five of the first six points in the first game and moving to an 8-3 lead before closing it out, 15-7. In the three games it won, Mater Dei outblocked Huntington Beach, 14-1.

“By far that was the best defense we’ve played this year,” said Mulligan, who had a team-high 19 digs. “This is a good time for it all to come together.”

Mater Dei setter Jenny Senske had 49 assists and five blocks and Ashley Bayer, who had 14 digs, and Pavlik, who had 15, also personified a defensive effort that made Coach Craig Pazanti smile.

“We were blocking a lot of balls and even the ones we didn’t put down,” Pazanti said, “we got our hands on so we were able to dig some more balls.

“When we stopped passing and playing defense, like in that third game, that’s when things broke down.”

Huntington Beach tried to make a match of it in the third game. Serena Bountour had six of her 11 kills in that game, and Jennifer Gardikas (14 kills), Lindsey Vernand (11 kills) and Marisa Aston (21 digs) helped the Oilers take a 10-5 lead they never relinquished.

Bountour, who also had 21 digs, served an ace on game point to force a fourth game. But Mater Dei scored the first eight points of the fourth game and cruised to the victory with Mulligan spiking for a kill on the Monarchs’ second match point.

“We got a little rhythm in the third game but in the fourth game it fell apart again,” Huntington Beach Coach Rocky Ciarelli said. “If we would have gotten off to a good start and got our crowd into it, we had a chance.

“But we were out of sync the whole night, but they had a lot to do with that.”

Mater Dei’s reward for its victory is a shot at redemption in the finals after falling to Santa Barbara San Marcos in last season’s Division I-A final. Mater Dei also lost to eventual Division I state champ Marina in the 1997 section I-A final.

“That loss [to San Marcos] last year has been in the back of our minds,” Mulligan said. “Tonight we knew we had to play our best. Hopefully, we can do that again Saturday.”