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ANAHEIM – Coming into Tuesday night’s matchup with Esperanza, the El Dorado girls volleyball team stood atop the Century League standings with a 5-1 record. That one loss was to the Aztecs.

In the teams’ second meeting, it was apparent the Golden Hawks were out for retribution. El Dorado swept Esperanza, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23, at Esperanza.

The Golden Hawks (12-7, 6-1) and Aztecs (14-6, 4-3), who were tied for second with Villa Park coming into the match, traded victories in each others’ gym this season.

“We were so pumped, motivated to beat them on their home court,” El Dorado’s Kelly Claes said. “Especially with all their fans, it was so fun.”

Claes dominated from the early going and never let up as she finished with 27 kills, 10 assists and three blocks.

“Kelly is a rare player,” Golden Hawks coach Craig Tefertiller said. “She can attack the ball as well as anyone. She’s great on and off the court, and she allows our team to be very confident.”

Claes’ outstanding play was contagious. El Dorado never gave the Aztecs a chance to gain control of the match.

In the three sets, there were four ties and Esperanza led just once, 20-19, in the first set. But the Golden Hawks managed to rally and outscore the Aztecs, 6-3, the rest of the way.

The second set was a runaway for El Dorado as it raced to an 11-5 lead and wasn’t threatened by Esperanza at any point after.

The Aztecs almost tied the third set after the Golden Hawks reached match point, but fittingly, Claes finished them off.

Tefertiller didn’t give much thought to the revenge angle.

“We weren’t worried so much about them,” Tefertiller said. “We just wanted to make sure that we executed.

“We’ve been getting better at passing and serving, and tonight we passed better and that helped.”

Contact the writer: amorales@ocregister.com