RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – he Santa Margarita girls volleyball team has a constant in standout outside hitter Meghan McClure.
The sophomore is the focus of the Santa Margarita offense, draws the most attention from any opponent and more often than not, delivers.
But for the Eagles to beat quality teams, she needs a running mate or two, and she got the help she needed in Santa Margarita’s 24-26, 25-14, 29-27, 21-25, 15-8 Trinity League win over Mater Dei on Thursday.
McClure was again on point, with a match-high 24 kills – including the match-sealing strike in the fifth set – but in seemingly every set, a different Santa Margarita player stepped into a major scoring role.
In the deciding fifth, it was junior outside hitter Ashley Campbell, who had three kills and started a 10-2 run by Santa Margarita (18-3, 1-0) when one of her attacks tied the final set at 4-4. The Monarchs (11-10, 2-1) didn’t challenge for the lead after that.
Campbell was just the last in line. In the fourth set, junior middle blocker Jackie Ghindia had six of her 11 kills. In the third, freshman middle Haley Carmo put down four kills and tallied a block. In the first, it was senior outside hitter Claire Archibald who carried the load with four kills.
“It’s nice that it’s not just (McClure) and the other girls aren’t just watching and that’s why we can beat good teams,” Santa Margarita coach Katy Daly said.
The adaptive Eagles’ attack was orchestrated by freshman setter Devon Chang, who had no problem finding the right Santa Margarita hitter at the right time.
“We have an awesome setter who makes smart decisions,” Daly said. “It’s fun to watch. Those kinds of things make it fun (to coach).”
Mater Dei wasn’t at its best in the final set, but established a consistent blocking presence throughout with 6-foot junior Makena Martin (seven blocks) and 6-4 middle Brittany Welsh (four blocks). At their best, the Monarchs’ front was dominant, most crucially in the fourth set, when Martin and Welsh combined for four blocks in Mater Dei’s first 13 points of the set.
The Monarchs also got 11 kills from sophomore Shannon Scully and 10 from senior Payton Chang.
“That was the best we’ve blocked all year,” Mater Dei coach Dan O’Dell said. “My takeaway is, hey, we’re trying to get better and get as good as we can for November. I thought tonight was a step in the right direction. We didn’t come away with the win, but we got a little bit better tonight.”
Contact the writer: jbalan@ocregister.com
