Hello again.
The CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA girls volleyball championship match is familiar territory to St. Margaret’s in more ways than one.
The Tartans play Sage Hill in the 3AA final Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Fullerton College. St. Margaret’s has played Sage Hill this season twice before. The Tartans lost to Sage Hill in two Academy League matches, one a sweep and the other a five-game win for the Lightning.
St. Margaret’s has quite a history in CIF girls volleyball championships. The Tartans have played in 12 CIF-SS finals in the past 24 years. They have six CIF-SS titles, including an Orange County girls volleyball record of four consecutive championships from 1999-2002.
The Tartans won 83 matches in a row from 1996-04, the second-longest streak in the sport in county history; Valencia won 87 in a row, 1993-01.
St. Margaret’s has not lost a game in these playoffs, in which they were seeded third. The Tartans swept Cerritos in the first round, Victor Valley in the second round, Santa Monica in the quarterfinals and Quartz Hill of in the semifinals.
Susie Maga, who has coached St. Margaret’s since 1996, said balancing fun and ferocity is what keeps the Tartans on top.
“Trying to maintain a family atmosphere in our teams is important to me,” said Maga, who is 369-106 at St. Margaret’s. “It’s about giving your best every time you’re out on the court. I like to think of our teams as fighters, as kids who never give up.”
Maga, who is the only woman in CIF-SS history to coach boys and girls volleball teams to section championships in the same school year, 2000-01, has a team that fits the mold.
Senior outside hitter Emily Miller, who had 16 kills against Quartz Hill on Tuesday, was MVP of the Segerstrom Tournament and the Orange County Championships. Maga calls senior outside Peighton McRobie “an all-around excellent player” and says senior libero Gabby Axelson “can put on clinics as a back-row defensive player.”
As for Sage Hill’s players, Maga said, “We don’t know anything about them.”
Kidding aside …
“When we lost in three games at their place,” she said, “we had some runs but they overpowered us. We were better prepared the second time. We played two flawless games but we ended up losing in five.”
Top-seeded Sage Hill swept its way into the semifinals where it beat Elsinore in four games, 25-8, 25-15, 19-25, 25-23.
It is the second year in a row that two Academy League teams will meet in the CIF-SS girls volleyball championship round. Sage Hill beat league rival Crean Lutheran in last year’s 3A final.
For St. Margaret’s to beat Sage Hill, Maga said, mental toughness will be crucial.
“When Sage rattles off a few points, we can’t get down,” she said. “Move on to the next point and hope to get better. All of the greatest athletes have short memories.”
St. Margaret’s girls volleyball has created many winning memories, with perhaps more to come Saturday.
Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:
• The seeding committee did a good job for the girls volleyball playoffs. The No. 1-seeded team advanced to the finals in eight of the 10 playoff divisions. The No. 1 seed plays the No. 2 seed in four finals.
• The volleyball season continues beyond the CIF-SS finals. The CIF State tournament begins with Southern Regionals on Tuesday. State championship matches are Dec. 6 at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
• Admission to the CIF-SS girls volleyball finals at Cerritos College and at Fullerton College is $12 for adults and students without valid student identification, and $5 for students with valid ID and for children 13 and younger. The Cerritos and Fullerton college sites can accept credit cards for admission, which will include a 50-cent fee with such a purchase.
• Of the 20 teams playing in the girls volleyball finals, 13 are private schools. Of the 14 teams playing in the CIF-SS water polo finals, two are private schools.
• Admission to the CIF-SS water polo finals Saturday at Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine is $10 for adults and $5 for children 13 and younger and for high school students with valid student identification.
• The Laguna Beach-Corona del Mar match in the CIF USTA Southern Regional Girls Tennis Championships quarterfinals today at The Claremont Club in Claremont is a rematch. Corona del Mar beat Laguna Beach, 11-7, in nonleague play. The Laguna-CdM winner might play top-seeded Peninsula of Palos Verdes in the semifinals.
• CIF-SS individual girls tennis championships begin with prelims Monday at five sites, including Corona del Mar.
• The county’s community colleges offer a great option for high school student-athletes who have not received the scholarship offers they expected. The coaching and competition are great at the “JC” level, as are the academics. Zach Bateman, an offensive lineman who played at Estancia, went to Orange Coast College to play for the Pirates and recently accepted a scholarship offer from UCLA.
• CalHiSports.com’s rankings of candidates to play in the CIF State football Southern Regional round has JSerra at No. 2 and Mater Dei at No. 3 in Division 1. The website has St. John Bosco at No. 1. Corona del Mar is No. 3 and San Clemente is No. 6 in Division 2. (St. Francis of La Canada is No. 1.) St. Margaret’s is No. 3 and Saddleback Valley Christian is No. 9 in Division 4. (El Cajon Christian is No. 1.)
• In today’s Southwest Division football playoffs second round, three of the four games look like tossups: Corona del Mar-Trabuco Hills; Villa Park-Buena Park; and Valencia-Capistrano Valley. San Clemente appears to be significantly superior to Foothill, but upsets are not uncommon in the playoffs.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
