No. 2 Santa Margarita finishes off Capo Valley
MISSION VIEJO – Trailing by three points late in the fourth set, the second-ranked Santa Margarita girls volleyball made one final move.
The Eagles scored the final seven points to end the set and the match, defeating Capistrano Valley, 25-16, 25-22, 20-25, 25-21, in a nonleague match Thursday.
"That's what we need to work better on, siding out and getting back the momentum and not letting teams back in," Santa Margarita coach Katy Daly said. "I told them today, every team we play is good ... they have a good player, they have five good players and you can't let them get three, four, five points and momentum, because they will take it."
That was the case after the first two sets.
The Eagles (7-1) appeared on the way to a sweep, leading 17-13. However, the Cougars came out of a timeout and caught fire.
Led by Dani Bolden, the Cougars not only erased the deficit, but won the third set.
Bolden led the Cougars (5-3) with 19 kills and 15 digs.
Coach Darren Utterback pointed out the impact freshman Morgan Martin made on the game.
"When she (Martin) got her chance, I thought she stabilized our passing," Utterback said. "Early in the match, our passing was all over the place, and we were out of system a lot and they (Santa Margarita) weren't.
"We're competitive with anyone, we settle down and pass and we can move the ball around, so we're not so predictable. At the end, our passing got a little erratic, but I'm proud of the girls, they played well."
The Cougars carried over their momentum into the fourth set. On one of Martin's successful kills, Capistrano Valley led 16-11.
Later, at 21-18, the Eagles started making their push. Sofia Lavin's two kills and a hitting error, tied the score at 21-21, forcing the Cougars to call a timeout.
After the break, Brittany Ptak connected off the Capistrano Valley block to give Eagles the 22-21 lead, sending them on their way to the victory.
Lavin led Santa Margarita with 17 kills and 13 digs. Claire Archibald and Ptak had 11 and eight kills, respectively.
Both teams will compete in the Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament this weekend.
In other nonleague action
Redondo 3, No. 3 Mater Dei 1: Skyler Hubler, Sara Hughes and Jaden Pickell all had 12 kills apiece for the host Monarchs, but it wasn't enough as the Seahawks were victorious, 25-18, 24-26, 25-20, 25-23.
Beckman 3, Trabuco Hills 2: Monica Rau led the Patriots (4-7) with 18 kills and Michaela Coats had nine in the 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-13 road victory over the Mustangs (9-2).
Rachel Flynn led Trabuco Hills with 30 kills.
In the Empire League
Yorba Linda 3, Western 2: Katelyn Valor led the Mustangs (3-1, 2-0) with 16 kills in the 22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11 road victory.
Makeena Morris and Aspen Potter both had nine kills. Missy Owen had 37 assists and Taylor Schlener had 38 digs.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
