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Orange County’s top-ranked girls volleyball team, Santa Margarita, beat No. 2 Huntington Beach this week, so it must be easy times ahead for Santa Margarita.

Not quite.

The Eagles (17-1) swept No. 5 Aliso Niguel, 25-18, 25-16, 25-20, on Thursday. They play at Marymount of Los Angeles, which is ranked No. 6 in CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA, on Tuesday.

“I didn’t take it easy with the schedule,” Santa Margarita coach Katy Daly said.

The Eagles have excelled at the challenges. Their loss was to Assumption of Lousville, Ky., in the final of the Durango Tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday. Santa Margarita earlier this month won the Division 1 championship of the Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament.

Beating Huntington Beach was another tough one. Daly credited middle blockers Jackie Ghindia, a senior, and sophomore Haley Carmo for making that another successful match.

“Our middles had to get going to free up our outside hitters,” she said. “And, as always, Meghan McClure was solid.”

McClure, a junior outside hitter, had 15 kills against Huntington Beach. She was Division 1 MVP of the Mohs tournament.

Daly said the Eagles have seen consistent contributions from sophomore setter Devon Chang and senior libero Jane Horner. Chang, Horner and McClure were all-tournament at Durango.

Santa Margarita opens Trinity League play with a home match next Thursday against JSerra. The Eagles are at Mater Dei, ranked No. 6 in the county, in a league match Oct. 8.

Until then, the Eagles’ September tests continue. So far, so good.

“I knew I could challenge this team,” Daly said.

Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:

• In the battle of the top two ranked teams in CIF-SS Division 3AA, No. 2 St. Margaret’s beat No. 1 Sage Hill on Tuesday in five games, including a 15-13 win in the fifth game of the Academy League match. Sage Hill beat St. Margaret’s in last year’s 3AA final. That’s one of the better rivalries in county athletics.

• Newport Harbor junior linebacker Gage Roberson is averaging 14 tackles a game. He was in on three sacks in the Sailors’ loss to Corona del Mar last week.

• The first CIF-SS Council meeting is Oct. 6. Council meetings are where CIF-SS rules and by-laws are created or amended. At that session the Council will get a first look at a plan that change the structure of football playoffs to a competitive equity format much like the one in place for basketball. The plan would be up for a vote at the Council meeting in January.

• Here is the penalty schedule for sideline violations in football: a warning, with no yardage assessed, for the first violation; a 5-yard penalty for the second violation; a 15-yard penalty for the third and each subsequent violation.

• CASportsZone.com today has Internet audio broadcasts of the El Toro-Trabuco Hills and JSerra-St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs football games.

• There are support people all over county high school sports who aren’t on any school staff, but they are energetically involved all the same. Among the great ones are Ray and Nancy Reese who have for decades been part of Katella sports in several capacities. Nancy is a great baseball scorekeeper; if she says it’s an error, it’s an error in my scorebook.

• College Sports Quest offers a free NCAA recruiting workshop Saturday, 10 a.m.-11 a.m., at UC Irvine (look for signs there for precise location). Advance registration at collegesportsquest.com is required.

• They should name that new stadium at Century “Crego Field” in honor of the school’s late-great football coach Ted Crego.

• The initials “RFTB” are all over San Juan Hills, on large lettering along a fence behind the home side of the Stallions football field and on the backs of football practice jerseys. It means “Ride For The Brand,” the “brand” being the logo (much like how a ranch brands its cattle). In other words, take pride in the brand and properly represent it.

• At 25, Saddleback Valley Christian football coach Brendan Chambers is the youngest head coach in county football. Chambers was an outstanding quarterback at Saddleback Valley Christian and was a CIF-SS player of the year in baseball in 2006.

• San Juan Hills football coach Aaron Flowers is No. 8 in CIF-SS passing yardage for a career. As Artesia of Lakewood’s quarterback (1990-92), Flowers threw for 8,873 yards. He also is in the CIF-SS top 10 for career completions (582) and attempts (1,020), and for single-game touchdown passes (7) and consecutive completions (13).

• CalHiSports.com’s state record book has Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson gaining ground on Los Alamitos’ John Barnes for career wins. It has Johnson at 319-76-1, including his years at Los Amigos and El Toro, and county leader Barnes at 323-95-6 including his one-year stint at Magnolia.

• Mission Viejo plays at Johnson’s alma mater, Redondo of Redondo Beach, today.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com