 Santa Margarita's Sam Tinsley spikes the ball agaisnt La Costa Canyon during Tuesday night's CIF state girls volleyball regional match. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER FROM THE OCVARSITY.COM BLOG |
Santa Margarita's bid for state title is derailed
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The resilient Eagles are swept in the Southern California final by powerhouse La Costa Canyon.
Santa Margarita established itself as a legitimate girls volleyball power Nov. 1 when the Eagles defeated La Costa Canyon, then No. 1 in the nation, in the Redondo Tournament semifinals. The Mavericks' revenge was swift.
La Costa traveled to Santa Margarita on Tuesday night and swept the Eagles out of the 2008 season, 27-25, 25-23, 25-16, in the CIF Division I Southern California final. La Costa enters the state championship game with 36 victories in 37 matches.
"This is the best team in the country," Santa Margarita coach Cristy Chapman-Uhrig said. "They've beaten every other team they've played this year."
The Eagles, CIF-SS champions, hung in against the Mavericks' superior size and explosiveness, even holding small leads late in the first two games. La Costa coasted through the third, when the Eagles compounded their troubles with a bushel of errors.
Santa Margarita finishes at 28-8 after losing six of its first 15 matches. Eight seniors departed at the end of 2007, and this year's team went through nine lineups before settling on a rotation that featured four new starters.
As for preseason predictions: "I was expecting to have fun," said senior setter and captain Natalie Hamill, who played Tuesday with a strained hamstring. "I couldn't be more proud to say I was a part of this team. We're hurting right now, but we also have to look back and say what a great and unbelievable season we had."
Hamill had 19 assists and several diving digs, while sophomore outside hitter Samantha Tinsley led the Eagles in kills with 12. Junior Kylie Hargreaves had seven. The Mavericks got 12 kills from sophomore Lydia Rudnick and 10 from senior Katie Fuller.
"It's been a great learning year for me as a coach," said Chapman-Uhrig, whose team settled in to win 12 matches in a row before Tuesday. "After the La Costa win, they finally realized they could beat anyone. That was a big reason for our successes at the end of the year."
Entering that first La Costa match, as a freewheeling team with nothing to lose, "They were all fired up and focused; they were powerful," Mavericks coach Pat McDougall said. "It was like a different team. Tonight, we didn't see all that power."
La Costa advances to Saturday's state championship, where it faces Northern California champion Homestead at UC Irvine.
In Division II:
Redlands East Valley 3, Corona del Mar 0: Corona del Mar fell once again to Redlands East Valley, the team that defeated the Sea Kings in the CIF-SS championship.
The Wildcats swept again, 25-17, 25-15, 25-13, on Tuesday at Redlands in the Division II state semifinals.
The Sea Kings' Claire Hamm had nine kills, Conely Kipp had four aces and Madie Smith had 25 assists and seven digs.
Contact the writer: jkay@ocregister.com
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