Seniors lead Mater Dei to first championship

MISSION VIEJO- On a day of firsts for the Mater Dei boys volleyball team, it was ultimately the outgoing seniors' legacies that forever will be associated with the CIF Southern California regional Division II Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The Monarchs (31-8) took down undefeated Norco (23-1) in a three-set sweep, 25-18, 25-22, 25-18, at Capistrano Valley High to earn the school's first postseason boys volleyball title of any kind.

Although they lost in the CIF-SS Division I finals, Mater Dei's core group of seniors go out with a victory four years in the making.

"We will forever go down in school history," Mater Dei coach Jimmy Munoz said. "I'm so happy right now, you have no idea. I'm so proud of these eight seniors."

The Monarchs held their team banquet Wednesday, when Munoz selected all eight seniors the team's MVP. And did it ever show during the third set, when the Monarchs launched a knockout.

With the score 17-14, they scored six consecutive points to go up 23-14 and never look back.

"All the seniors were like, 'alright, let's just roll through this game,'" senior Connor Hughes said. "We're tired of this. This could be the last game that we ever play at Mater Dei right now, and we all got into it."

The late-game tear came after two previous sluggish starts. In the first two sets, Norco (23-1) jumped out to 11-4 and 12-5 leads, respectively.

But Mater Dei (31-8) converted three consecutive points to take an 18-17 lead in the second set, stemming from back-to-back spikes by Harrison Carroll and Sal La Cavera.

Hughes said the early deficits were a result of pregame jitters and nervousness.

"I said, 'Guys, you've got to settle down, your emotions are going crazy,'" Munoz said. "Just settle down and play your game."

Added Hughes: "This was a huge senior-based team. After we lost the CIF final, everyone was doubting ourselves a little bit. It feels so good we can finally hang a banner in the gym for volleyball."