Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy volleyball rebounds with sweep of Louisville
LA CAÑADA—The Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy girls’ volleyball team rebounded nicely, just two days removed from a disappointing loss to league foe Harvard-Westlake.
Back on their home floor Thursday evening, the Tologs were solid in all facets and showed more poise in clutch moments than visiting Louisville in a 25-15, 25-19, 25-18 Mission League victory.
Outside hitters Kayla Lund and Katie Conley combined for 31 kills and benefited from good defense and potent passing that led to high-percentage swings.
“The loss was tough,” Lund said of the sweep endured against Harvard-Westlake. “We wanted to come in [tonight] and kill it.”
PHOTOS: FSHA v. Louisville Mission League girls volleyball
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy (10-3, 2-1 in league), the league’s highest ranked team in Division I-A, handed Louisville its first loss in Mission League play with extended runs late in each of the three games that turned tightly contested frames into convincing wins for the Tologs.
“We learned from the loss [to Harvard Westlake] to stay composed, not panic and to maintain runs,” Tologs Coach Ernest Banaag said. “We did a good job of maintaining runs and it really helped us.”
With a 17-14 lead in the first game, Flintridge Sacred Heart reeled off six unanswered points and ended the game on an 8-1 run to take the opener. Lund led the squad with seven kills in the game that saw six tie scores and the Tologs never trailing after tying it early at 4.
The Royals (8-8, 2-1) never led in the second game, as Flintridge Sacred Heart sustained the momentum garnered from the first game en route to a 2-0 advantage in the match. Similarly to the first game, the Tologs needed a run late to gain separation. This time around, a pair of Lund kills started a 7-2 stretch that culminated with a Conley kill that gave the Tologs a 24-17 advantage. Louisville kept it close prior to the run, trailing, 17-15.
Flintridge Sacred Heart had not trailed since the early stages of the first game, but the Royals still came out with energy for the third game and scored six of the first eight points. The Tologs took their first lead at 12-11 in the midst of eight tie scores — the final one coming at 17, the first point of an 8-0 run spearheaded by Maddie Peterson’s service game that turned a 17-16 Louisville advantage into a 24-17 FSHA lead and match-point for the Tologs.
Lund’s kill clinched the match and secured the victory. The freshman led the team with 17 kills with Conley complementing well with 14.
“Katie has a lot of experience and you can tell with her swing, she puts it where it needs to be,” Banaag said. “It’s nice because Kayla sees that and can learn from her.”
“She fires us up, she’s great,” Lund said about Conley. “I love looking up to her. She motivates me to do better.”
Captain Sophia Coffey paced the Tologs with 35 assists and Emily Develle helped set it all up with a team-high 23 digs.