Mater Dei avoids upset, reaches Mohs final
HUNTINGTON BEACH - The Mater Dei girls volleyball team dropped the first set of its semifinal match against Los Alamitos, and it seemed its day would soon be ending.
In the second set, Mater Dei was two points away from being eliminated. However, Mater Dei wouldn't taste defeat.
The Monarchs survived the second set and breezed in the third for the 21-25, 25-23, 15-4 victory over Los Alamitos on Saturday afternoon at Edison High.
The Monarchs will see a familiar foe in Monday's Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament final. Mater Dei will meet Redondo Union in the Division 1 final at Edison at about 7:15 p.m.
“This entire tournament, we've been trying to get back to Mater Dei volleyball, serving the heck out of the ball and more importantly controlling the (opposition's) outside hitters,” Mater Dei coach Adam Cutrell said.
In the third set, the Monarchs jumped to a 6-1 lead, forcing the Griffins to call a timeout. That didn't slow Mater Dei. With the score 7-3, Mater Dei went on a 7-0 run to the put away the set and eventually the match.
Mater Dei will get a second shot at Redondo. They met last week, with Redondo winning in four sets.
“We didn't play well,” Cutrell said of the first meeting. “We're looking forward to going back at them.”
Mater Dei won its pool and defeated Centennial of Bakersfield and Harvard Westlake of North Hollywood before facing Los Alamitos in the semifinals.
Redondo finished first in its pool and swept Sage Hill, Newport Harbor and Tesoro in the playoffs.
Tesoro finished first in Pool 7. The Titans defeated Laguna Beach in three and then knocked off Santa Margarita, 26-24, 25-18, in the quarterfinals.
DIVISION 2
Whittier Christian will meet Yorba Linda in the finals Monday at 6 p.m.
The Heralds started the playoff bracket with a 25-16, 25-23 victory over Troy in the quarterfinals and then defeated Villa Park, 25-16, 25-23 in the semifinals.
Yorba Linda defeated Stockdale (25-17, 25-19), Canyon (25-23, 25-19) and top-seeded Francis Parker (26-24, 11-25, 15-13) to advance to the finals.
Yorba Linda advanced by knocking off top-seeded Francis Parker of San Diego in the semifinals.
