Mater Dei Rallies to Upset Sailors

For two games, not much worked for Mater Dei.

So the Monarchs simplified their approach and found a way to dig out of a two-games-to-none deficit and defeat top-seeded Newport Harbor in a Southern Section Division III boys’ volleyball semifinal Wednesday at Costa Mesa High.

Jonathan Daze had 30 kills and four blocks, Joe Groff had 18 kills and 12 blocks and Paul Munoz had eight of his 15 kills in the fifth game to lead Mater Dei to the win, 8-15, 9-15, 16-14, 15-7, 15-12, in a match that took nearly 2 1/2 hours.

“We showed all of our fancy stuff early and none of it worked,” said Mater Dei setter Mike Gazzano, who finished with 63 assists and six blocks. “So we made everything simple. Everyone stepped up tonight.

“I’ve been playing with Paul Munoz for I don’t know how long and I’ve never seen him like that. I don’t know what happened.”

With the score tied at 12 in the fifth game, Munoz rolled a shot over the top of the block for a side out. Then, he got his fifth block, stuffing Newport Harbor’s Blake Tippett, who will play at USC next season, to put the Monarchs ahead, 13-12. A Daze kill made it 14-12.

After Tippett had another kill--to give him 30 for the match on his 21st attempt of the fifth game--a service error gave Mater Dei its final side out. Then Munoz, who also had seven of his team-high 21 digs in the fifth game, put the match away by spiking off the block on the Monarchs’ second match point.

Newport Harbor had its own match point about an hour earlier.

The Sailors scored seven consecutive points in the third game to take a 14-13 lead, but Groff erased Newport Harbor’s only match point with a kill. The Monarchs scored the last three points of that game, with Daze finishing it off with a spike from the back row.

“We had them on the ropes,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. “We played pretty well in the first two games, and we had our chances. Then they just beat us in that fifth game.”

Newport Harbor’s attack was clicking early and junior setter Loyd Wright, who had 71 assists and six blocks, had all of his options working.

Greg Perrine had six of 16 kills and Morgan Craig had four of his 12 kills in the first game. Christian Berg-Hansen had six of his 14 kills in the second game and Erik Peterson had nine kills and eight blocks for the Sailors.

But Newport Harbor (13-8) struggled to hit effectively against Mater Dei’s blocking, especially in the final two games.

“I didn’t have any magic words,” Mater Dei Coach Tom Costanzo said. “[After the second game,] I just said go out and have some fun.”

The fourth-seeded Monarchs (12-4) will meet Serra League rival Santa Margarita in the final Saturday at Cypress College. Mater Dei lost both league matches to second-seeded Santa Margarita, who won the league.

“We started out this season with high goals,” Gazzano said. “We didn’t meet many of them and now there’s only one left, winning CIF. We just have to lay it out on the line.”