Flintridge Sacred Heart volleyball will get shot at La Salle in playoffs
Seven weeks after playing La Salle in a nonleague contest, the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy girls’ volleyball team will get another shot at the Lancers with an opportunity to advance to the CIF Southern Section Division I-A championship match.
It’s a challenge the fourth-seeded Tologs relish with plenty up for grabs, as they get set to meet the top-seeded Lancers in a semifinal match at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Flintridge Sacred Heart.
“We are glad to be back playing against La Salle,” said Flintridge Sacred Heart second-year Coach Ernest Banaag, who will look to guide the Tologs to their first final appearance since 2007. “We went through a lot [Saturday] in beating El Dorado [in five games] and now we get set to face another very good team.
“I think these are the two best teams in the area with so many great players on both sides.”
Flintridge Sacred Heart (26-4) split the Mission League championship with Harvard-Westlake, which will face league foe Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in the other semifinal match at Notre Dame on Tuesday. La Salle (28-5) will look to reach the final for the third straight season after winning the championship last season against El Dorado. The Lancers won the Del Rey League title and advanced to the semifinals by sweeping Aliso Niguel.
The championship match will be played at 5 p.m. Saturday at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
The Tologs and Lancers met Oct. 1 at La Salle with the Lancers winning, 25-15, 24-26, 25-21, 25-19.
Banaag said the Tologs have improved a great deal since that match.
“I think we are a lot better now,” Banaag said. “A lot of our players have improved since.
“I told our players that what we’ve done and what La Salle has done doesn’t matter now. Tuesday’s match is the only one that matters now. We think this will be a great match and it will be nice to be playing at home.”
