La Habra Doesn’t Miss a Beat in Victory Over Point Loma

Fresh off its heart-stopping, five-game Southern Section Division II-A championship victory Saturday, host La Habra could have been ripe for an upset Tuesday in the first round of the Division II girls’ volleyball state tournament.

But San Diego Point Loma, the San Diego Section runner-up, was simply overmatched in size, skill and experience and the fourth-seeded Highlanders cruised to a 15-8, 15-4, 15-6 victory in a match that took 1 hour 15 minutes.

La Habra’s USC-bound outside hitter, Keao Burdine, had 13 kills and 16 digs, and sophomore Kristina Baum had 10 kills and seven blocks to help the Highlanders (21-2) advance to the second round to play South Torrance.

“I don’t know if you could tell, but we weren’t sharp tonight,” La Habra Coach Troy Abbey said. “It was exciting for the past couple days here, but it’s a tough crowd. There are high expectations.”

La Habra’s players need only look to the rafters in their gym where three state championship banners hang with another to signify the four previous Southern Section titles the Highlanders have won.

Point Loma doesn’t have the same championship tradition. Coach David Jones said it had been more than 20 years since the Pointers reached the state tournament and this team had only two seniors.

But Point Loma (16-3) played some scrappy defense Tuesday, led by Heather Sardinha and Gina Silva, who had 14 digs each. Point Loma held Burdine to a .294 hitting percentage. She hit .436 in the five-game title-winning victory over Lakewood St. Joseph Saturday.

The Pointers’ problems were on the offensive side. Sophomore Jena Eiden had 15 kills, but Point Loma hit only .138 as a team.

The Pointers, who have only two players taller than 5-feet-10, had problems matching up with La Habra, which has five players 5-10 or taller.

Lauren Goins, a 6-foot senior, had 11 kills and three blocks and Jenny Habben, a 5-10 senior, added seven kills and three blocks.