Local coaches are hoping nerves will be low and the level of play will be high for the next two weeks as girls volleyball league titles are decided.
While the West Valley League and Coastal Canyon leagues will come down to the wire, most other leagues will be basically decided this week, with the top two teams clashing one more time in the regular season.
Notre Dame wins fifth straight, closes in on first league title
The Knights (15-6, 6-0) are picking up some solid momentum heading into the final stretch of the regular season. While Notre Dame has aspirations for the postseason and beyond, the program is still aching to win its first Angeles League title.
Notre Dame has taken strides this season, with a lot of the work coming through the underclass. Sophomores Anya Brach and Sierra Hitchcock captain the Knights alongside senior setter Anya Wilson. Third-year coach John Dazé also has gotten a huge boost from sophomore middle Ellouisa Quiel and freshman setter-opposite Jade Morgan, who has added explosiveness and creativity all over the court.
“I was aware of (Morgan’s) ability and of her as a person,” Dazé said in a phone interview. “We were excited to have her come in as a freshman and make an impact. But right away, she came in fearless. She’s top-spin serving, going on serving runs. She’s starting to play six rotations.”
Balance and consistency have been key for Notre Dame this season. During the winning streak, Hitchcock led Notre Dame with 15 kills in its straight set win over Louisville. She again led with 12 kills in a win over Campbell Hall, while Brach and Morgan each had three aces. Brach also totaled 14 digs.
“I would say balance and I’m using that word against our opponents, letting them know that we are the more balanced team here,” Dazé said. “We don’t have a lot of holes. So it’s kind of hard to figure us out, because if you find one thing, we can kind of adjust to another.”
Standing in the way of the Angeles League championship are the Louisville Royals (15-2, 4-1), a team the Knights swept in round one but won’t take lightly in what should be a league championship match next week.
Notre Dame will have a non-league challenge on Tuesday in its match with Long Beach Poly. They host Sacred Heart Flintridge on Thursday, and head down to San Diego for a tournament over the weekend, all before heading to Louisville on Monday, a school holiday. It’s a busy week to say the least for the Knights, but Dazé’s team is ready for the challenge and wants to catch fire ahead of the postseason.
“Sunday is a day off, and hopefully that kind of regenerates some energy to attack Monday,” Dazé said. “We’re really ramping up competitively going into that match to be as ready as possible, because the moment is here, and that’s becoming the most important match of the season.”
Red-hot Trailblazers win Redondo Power Classic, head to Marymount next
Sierra Canyon has now won 11 straight and is in its second double-digit match winning streak of the season. The latest streak is mostly fueled by the team’s strong performance at the Redondo Union Power Classic over the weekend. The Trailblazers notched impressive wins over Scripps Ranch, Thousand Oaks, Mira Costa and Archbishop Mitty, whom Sierra Canyon beat 2-1 in the championship match.
McKenna McIntosh and Hanna McGinest each tallied eight kills. McGinest also added four blocks and two aces.
The Sierra Canyon hot streak includes a five-set win over Mission League rival Marymount (33-4, 5-1) last week, but the Sailors are ready for their shot at evening the series and standings.
Marymount’s top two offensive threats had a combined 18 hitting errors, so Sierra Canyon will be gearing up to defend a cleaner attack with the battle being in the Sailors’ gym.
Sierra Canyon (33-3, 7-0) can clinch at least a share of its potential fourth-straight Mission League title with a pair of wins at Marymount on Tuesday and at home versus Harvard-Westlake on Thursday.
Granada Hills remains ahead in tight West Valley League race
The Highlanders are coming off their second perfect week of league play with a sweep over Birmingham and their second consecutive five-set win over Chatsworth.
Granada Hills took the fifth set 15-8 to earn the win with big nights from setter Weiwei Gao and outside hitter Alexis Cuan. Gao led the offense with 42 assists, with most of them coming from Cuan’s 30 kills. Allisha Shaikh also added 14 digs in the win, while Chatsworth’s Addison Flores led her team with 14 kills.
The Highlanders get their rematch with the El Camino Real Royals on Wednesday, the only league rival that has bested Granada so far this season.
A Royals win will tie the two teams for first while also keeping the West Valley landscape even, but a win for the Highlanders gives them some breathing room with two weeks of league play to go.
Thousand Oaks and Oaks Christian set for rematch
The two Marmonte League juggernauts already dazzled fans with a wild five-set battle that ended with a 26-24 fifth game in favor of the Lancers.
Since the match, Oaks Christian (22-4, 6-1) has won eight matches and dropped three, so coach Julie Bennett believes confidence will be key in round two with Thousand Oaks (27-4, 7-0).
“Ultimately, we had many chances to finish and win against them last time but lacked that confidence in those moments,” Bennett wrote in a text message.” We’ve played a lot of matches since, lost some other matches since, so I’d like to think we’ve grown closer as a team, and it’s always valuable to learn from a loss and how to not experience that sadness or regret again.”
The Lancers went on to win 20 straight matches before cooling off in tournament play over the weekend, but will be ready for another war with Oaks Christian.
The Lions will head to Calabasas while the Lancers host Agoura on Tuesday before the likely league title match on Thursday at Thousand Oaks.
Coastal Canyon title coming down to the wire
Oak Park, Camarillo, Royal and Moorpark are all making hard pushes for the Coastal Canyon league title.
The Oak Park Eagles (14-7, 4-1) are riding high into the final weeks as winners of four straight. The Eagles will head to Camarillo (12-11, 3-1) on Tuesday and host Royal (14-8, 4-2) on Thursday.
The Scorpions enter the week coming off a rough week of tournament play. Camarillo battled a good mix of strong opponents, but they have won three straight league matches since dropping a five-setter at Moorpark. Camarillo beat Royal in five with 12-kill nights from Rhyan Muraoka and Neariah Fasavalu. Muraoka also added five aces while the freshman Fasavalu tallied six blocks and 11 digs.
Moorpark (8-7, 2-3) takes on the Pioneers on Tuesday before Camarillo heads to Simi Valley on Thursday.
Kennedy in the driver’s seat heading towards back-to-back titles
Kennedy has won three straight matches since a surprising straight-set loss at Canoga Park two weeks ago. The loss is Kennedy’s only non-tournament defeat this season.
Since then, the Cougars have picked up a trio of wins, including a five-set win over Reseda to remain in control of the Valley Mission League race.
Kennedy (20-7, 8-1) has league stops at Panorama and Sylmar this week, and with another pair of wins, the team can clinch at least a share of the Valley Mission title. The Cougars can clinch an outright title next week in their rematch with Canoga.