Small-School Star a Big Hit

The enrollment at Marymount High--395 students--is one-tenth of some public schools, and the Sailors’ volleyball tradition, though not insignificant, isn’t as entrenched as some of the beach schools.

But Marymount, a small, secluded school at the base of the Bel-Air Country Club, found itself with a big-name player and a season unparalleled in school history.

Haley Jorgensborg, the Sailors’ 5-foot-11 setter and outside hitter, led Marymount to Southern Section and state championships. She dispelled the notion that small schools can’t spike the big schools.

Jorgensborg, a senior who has signed with UCLA, is The Times’ girls’ volleyball player of the year.

“Being a small school, people think they’re going to ruin us,” Jorgensborg said. “They’re like, ‘Who are these Marymount girls?’ “We needed to prove ourselves and we did.”

The Sailors won the state Division IV title last season with a slightly different roster, but Marymount’s arrival as a volleyball power began at the San Diego Torrey Pines tournament on Oct. 12-13.

With Jorgensborg leading the way, the Sailors defeated large-school heavyweights Manhattan Beach Mira Costa and San Clemente, and nearly upset eventual state Division I champion Torrey Pines in the tournament championship. Less than two weeks later, Marymount defeated small-school power North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake in a nonleague match.

In the playoffs against schools its own size, Marymount had little trouble, losing only one game in eight matches. The Sailors defeated Laguna Beach in four games for the Southern Section Division IV-AA championship and swept Atherton Menlo for the state Division IV title.

Jorgensborg led the team in a variety of categories almost every match. For the season, she had 489 assists, 205 kills, 97 blocks, 38 aces and 262 digs for the Sailors (34-4).

Jorgensborg has a win-regardless-of-cost attitude on the court that travels with her to the mountains. An avid snowboarder, she’ll take on top-notch terrain and usually vanquish it ... with the exception of a broken wrist she suffered while snowboarding as a sophomore. The high school season was over, Marymount Coach Cari Klein said with a trace of relief.

“She thinks she’s got to compete with every guy out there,” Klein said. “She’s absolutely nuts.”

Jorgensborg’s future is only a stroll from the present--UCLA is a few minutes from Marymount.

“She’s going to compete. She’s not going to go away [at UCLA],” Klein said. “Every year I’ve coached her, she’s come back and been much better. You get out there and see what she did each year, it’s amazing.”