Sage Hill rallies to spike St. Margaret’s

Sage Hill's Juliette Singarella celebrates with teammates after scoring a point during Thursday's Academy League girls volleyball match against host St. Margaret's. Sage Hill dropped two of the first three sets before winning, 3-2.
St. Margaret's Alexa Vandenburg, center, and Peighton McRobie, right, defend against a shot by Sage Hill's Juliette Singarella during Thursday's Academy League girls volleyball match at St. Margaret's.
St. Margaret's Peighton McRobie, right, jumps up to hit the ball over the net as Sage Hill's Juliette Singarella defends during Thursday's Academy League girls volleyball match at St. Margaret's.
St. Margaret's Emily Miller, left, moves in front of teammate Peighton McRobie to return a serve during Thursday's Academy League girls volleyball match against Sage Hill at St. Margaret's.
Sage Hill's Juliette Singarella, right, goes up to hit the ball as St. Margaret's Gabby Benck defends during Thursday's Academy League girls volleyball match at St. Margaret's.
St. Margaret's Gabby Axelson prepares to bump a serve during Thursday's Academy League girls volleyball match against Sage Hill at St. Margaret's.
St. Margaret's Emily Miller, right, hits the ball over the net as Sage Hill's Sophie Gordon defends during Thursday's Academy League girls volleyball match at St. Margaret's.
St. Margaret's players celebrate after winning the first set during Thursday's Academy League girls volleyball match against Sage Hill at St. Margaret's.

By Damian Calhoun | dcalhoun@scng.com | Daily Breeze

October 10, 2013 at 10:57 p.m.

After losing two of the first three sets, a fourth and a fifth were certainly a welcomed sight for the ninth-ranked Sage Hills girls volleyball team.

After tying the match, the Lightning (15-4, 5-0) jumped from the blocks strong in the fifth, scoring five of the first six points en route to the victory.

Halland McKenna led the way with 20 kills, 20 digs and five aces for Sage Hill in the 23-25, 25-15, 22-25, 25-19, 15-9 Academy League road victory over St. Margaret’s (8-9, 4-2) Thursday night.

“Our girls have so much history of being solid and making good decisions at the right time in matches,” Sage Hill coach Dan Thomassen said. “We have a really good bank of confidence from training, from big matches that we played early in the season.”

The Lightning needed all of that experience and confidence to fight its way back against the Tartans, who are ranked seventh in the latest CIF-SS Division 3-A poll.

“We definitely were tight,” Thomassen said. “But when it mattered, we were making plays on the court.”

After falling behind early, the Tartans stayed around, cutting the score to 9-7 on a kill by Alexa Vandenburg.

Out of the timeout, Juliette Singarella connected on a kill, and McKenna followed to give the Lightning an 11-7 lead.

Singarella had 11 kills, and Kekai Whitford had 10. Setter Maddy Abbott had 46 assists for the Lightning.

“Sage Hill is a very, very good team,” Coach Susie Maga said. “I thought we fought very hard, and we played really well … that’s a very good team.”

The Tartans led 24-20 in the first set, but the Lightning scored three consecutive points, forcing a timeout. Out of the break, the Tartans’ Miller knocked home the winner to seal the first set.

In the third set, the Tartans showed what Maga called “playing Tartan volleyball.” St. Margaret’s trailed early (4-1), but with Sage Hill leading 9-8, the Tartans scored four conecutive points for a 12-9 lead. It was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish on the way to taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

Peighton McRobie led St. Margaret’s with 13 kills. Emily Miller and Gabby Benck had eight apiece.

In the Sea View League

Aliso Niguel 3, Laguna Hills 0: Lindsey Ruddins led the Wolverines (16-0, 2-0) with 13 kills in the 25-23, 25-21, 25-16 home victory.

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com