Nash Takes Notre Dame All the Way

Megan Nash wouldn’t let it happen again.

Not a loss to North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, and not another defeat in a Southern Section girls’ volleyball championship match.

Nash finished with 29 kills, including five in the decisive fifth game, and Los Angeles Notre Dame Academy defeated Harvard-Westlake, 25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 17-25, 15-13, in the Division III-A championship match Friday night at Cypress College.

In a fitting end, the 6-foot-1 Nash punctuated the victory with a smash through two Harvard-Westlake defenders on match point, prompting a delirious dogpile by teammates, with Nash at the bottom.

The Regals (21-10) had reason to celebrate because they had lost to Sunshine League rival Los Angeles Marymount in the Division IV-AA finals each of the last two years.

“I wasn’t going to let us lose another one, not after being here three times,” Nash said. “This feels so wonderful. We’ve come so far this season.”

Notre Dame Academy, which started two seniors, a junior, two sophomores and a freshman, also got 11 kills and four aces from outside hitter Morgan Doherty, and Kristi Jackels had 34 assists.

Harvard-Westlake (22-6), which was bidding for its seventh title in its first appearance in a final since 2002, was led by junior outside hitter Brittany Julian with 15 kills. Cathryn Quinn added 14 kills and Katherine Sebastian had 41 assists.

Santa Monica Lighthouse Christian won its second consecutive Division V-A title over Santa Maria Valley Christian, taking a 25-13, 25-16, 23-25, 25-11 decision at Cypress College.

Senior outside hitter Amanda Massey and sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Sommer led the Saints (21-2). Massey scored the final point of the match with a kill from the back row. Valley Christian falls to 14-5.

Eight more finals will take place today, including Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World facing Santa Margarita in Division III-AA and Anaheim Esperanza playing Long Beach Wilson in Division I-A.

Lauren Peterson

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Girls’ Tennis

Going six seasons between section titles is no big deal at most schools, but for a storied program like Palisades, it’s an eternity.

On Friday, the top-seeded Dolphins reclaimed the City Section team title that used to be their private property. They soundly defeated Carson, 6-1, in the Championship Division final at Balboa Sports Center in Encino to win their 18th team crown and first since 1998.

It was Palisades’ third consecutive appearance in the finals. The Dolphins had lost the previous two years to Granada Hills by 6-1 and 5-2 scores, so Friday’s victory was most satisfying for the six seniors who made the most of their last chance at a City title.

“On one hand, I would have liked to have beaten Granada [Hills] in the finals to pay them back for the last two years,” said Palisades senior co-captain Brittany O’Neil, who celebrated her 17th birthday by teaming with Lauren Pugatch to win at No. 2 doubles. “On the other hand, Carson deserved to be here and gave us a great match. Everything just came together this season. Like a jigsaw puzzle, we finally got all of the pieces to fit.”

Palisades (15-0) needed less than an hour and a half to clinch the victory. Katy Nikolova, a sophomore transfer from Burbank, won, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 1 singles and finished the season undefeated.

After Teresa Macias won, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 3 singles to level the match for the second-seeded Colts (15-1), Palisades senior Krista Slocum won, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 2 singles and teammate Kathryn Cullen won, 7-5, 6-0, at No. 4 singles, moving the Dolphins within one victory of winning with three doubles points available.

In the Invitational Division final, Daisy Tapia won, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), at No. 4 singles to notch the decisive point for second-seeded Sylmar (12-4) in a 4-3 victory over fifth-seeded Garfield (14-3).

Steve Galluzzo

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Boys’ Water Polo

Just in case Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar don’t meet in a playoff game for another 18 years, the cross-town rivals left a good impression in a Southern Section Division I semifinal.

Newport Harbor rallied from a two-goal deficit midway through the fourth quarter and fell behind in overtime before scoring a 13-12 victory over the Sea Kings at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine.

The third-seeded Sailors (25-5) will play top-seeded Long Beach Wilson (25-3) in the championship game at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. Wilson, which defeated fourth-seeded Santa Ana Foothill, 9-6, in the other semifinal, will be trying for an unprecedented fifth consecutive title.

The Sailors are the only other team besides Wilson to win a title in the last nine years, securing the championship in 2000. But the current group of seniors is in uncharted waters.

“None of our team had been out of the quarterfinals before,” said Newport Harbor senior Clay Jorth.

Jorth scored the game-winning goal with 1 minute 7 seconds left in overtime. His only other goal of the game gave Newport Harbor an 11-10 lead with 1:31 remaining in regulation, but Corona del Mar senior Tom Money tied the score with 3.9 seconds left.

Senior Brett Auer scored five goals to lead the Sailors in their first playoff game against Corona del Mar since 1987, when the Sea Kings won the Division 4-A title with a 10-8 victory. He had three goals and an assist in the third quarter to help Newport Harbor stay within two entering the fourth.

“The energy is great and we came together as a team,” Auer said. “We’re finally doing what we’ve been waiting for all these years, to make it to the finals.”

Dan Arritt

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Cross-Country

The City Section championships are scheduled for today at Pierce College, beginning with the boys’ varsity race at 8:30 a.m. followed by the girls’ varsity race at 9.

Senior Emma Hartel of Lake Balboa Birmingham is the two-time defending girls’ champion and had the top time of 18:54 in the preliminaries Monday. San Pedro junior Steve Calise posted the top boys’ time of 15:51.

The Southern Section championships begin at 7:45 a.m. today at Mt. San Antonio College. The Simi Valley Royal boys’ team and Corona del Mar’s girls are expected to dominate their fields.

-- Dan Arritt