The memory of last season was still fresh in the mind of Santa Margarita’s girls volleyball team.
Last year, the second-ranked Eagles were eliminated by Huntington Beach in the CIF-SS Division 1AA quarterfinals.
Wednesday night, the visiting Eagles were back at the same location, but this time they exacted a bit of revenge by sweeping the third-ranked Oilers, 25-8, 25-17, 25-16, in the Trinity-Sunset League Showcase.
“We definitely had the thought of last year’s game in mind,” Santa Margarita senior Meghan McClure said. “When I came in here, I remembered walking out (of the gym) and the feelings I had and how disappointed we were at how our season had ended …
“We had lost last week (to Edison), and we said this is our time to come back and start our season strong. We came out with no mercy and we wanted to win.”
The Eagles jumped out an early lead in the first set and carried their momentum throughout the remainder of the match, which was important to tehm after it lost to Edison in four sets last week.
“Last week, we noticed that the vibe on the court wasn’t what it should be,” McClure said of the Edison loss. “We were playing really tense. This game, our whole thing was coming out with an edge, coming out fired up and playing how we like to play and going for balls, not worrying about making mistakes.”
That effort was enough to keep the Oilers from possibly extending the match any further than three sets.
In the second, the Oilers cut the Eagles’ lead to 19-16. Abby Van Winkle restored order for the Eagles with a kill, and a couple of points later, after a kill from Haley Carmo, the Oilers were forced into a timeout. McClure eventually ended the second set with a kill.
The Oilers led 8-5 in the third set, but the Eagles fought their way back to take the lead for good at 10-9 and quickly stretched the lead to double digits.
“I think we played looser tonight than we have the last week,” Santa Margarita coach Katy Daly said. “I think we were a little tense, and when things weren’t going our way, we put more pressure on ourselves, and I think tonight, was a good steppingstone in going the right direction and not second-guessing ourselves.”
In other Trinity-Sunset matches:
No. 1 Mater Dei 3, No. 6 Los Alamitos 0: Shannon Scully had 19 kills and Natalie Berty added eight to lead the Monarchs to the 25-19, 25-19, 26-24 victory at Orange Lutheran High.
No. 4 Edison 3, No. 5 Orange Lutheran 0: The Chargers were the only Sunset League team to come away with a victory, sweeping the host Lancers, 25-20, 25-17, 25-19.
JSerra 3, Newport Harbor 1: The Lions defeated the Sailors, 25-11, 20-25, 25-15, 25-17 in the opening match at Huntington Beach.
DAMIAN CALHOUN
In boys water polo:
Aliso Niguel 10, Beckman 9: Defender Colin Knight scored three goals in the third period and utility Nick Ure netted the eventual winning strike with about three minutes left in the fourth period in the nonleague game at Aliso Niguel.
Aliso Niguel (3-0) took a 9-6 lead into the fourth but needed Ure’s extra-man goal with 2:54 left and a defensive stand in the final seconds to dispatch Beckman (0-1).
“Beckman really started cranking up the pressure in the second half,” said Aliso Niguel coach Jon Puffer.
“That fourth quarter was physical, but I was really proud of how our boys competed.”
Ure gave Aliso Niguel a 10-8 lead on a power-play chance he earned by drawing a foul and exclusion outside 5 meters. Beckman cut its deficit to 10-9 with 2:06 left on an extra-man goal by Ian Holder.
It was Beckman’s third power-play goal in as many chances in the fourth period and helped the Patriots finish 4 for 5 with the extra attacker.
Aliso Niguel’s defense and goalie Brandon Davis held and didn’t allow a shot on the Patriots’ final possession.
DAN ALBANO
