STUDIO CITY — Harvard-Westlake’s girls volleyball team punched its ticket to the CIF State championships on Tuesday night by beating Santa Margarita in four sets, 25-23, 16-25, 25-19, 25-19, in the CIF Southern California Regional final.
It is Harvard-Westlake’s first trip to the state championships in four years.
The Wolverines (27-8) will face Woodcreek (42-6) of Roseville in the state finals Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
The Wolverines (27-8) battled hard in the first set before stumbling in set two against Santa Margarita (28-11), the CIF-SS Division 2 champion. The Eagles’ 6-foot-4 outside hitter, Ireland Real, came out swinging to open up the second game and just about everything clicked for Santa Margarita.
Real, a Texas commit, knocked down 10 of her match-high 30 kills in the second set while the Wolverines’ serve receive struggled.
“I thought they came out and really punched us hard,” Harvard-Westlake coach Morgan Wijay said. “Those outside hitters were going after us. I thought, ‘You know what? Deep breath, now it’s 1-1 Let’s just focus on our game. Let’s get back into it.’
“Volleyball is such a momentum game, and it’s really just making sure that no one gains momentum. I thought our girls did a really good job in games three and four containing any momentum shifts.”
After the second set, it was all Harvard-Westlake, as the team’s block and attack turned up the heat.
Harvard-Westlake was led by junior outside hitter Kahala Faucher with 13 kills, including five balls put away in the fourth set. Wolverines outside hitter Kylie Parker added eight kills while 6-foot-2 junior opposite Sophia Cotter had 11 kills.
The middles for the Wolverine might have made the biggest impact on the contest with their defense of Real. Maya Stillwell, a 6-foot-4 Northwestern commit, and Lauryn Lewis, a Penn commit, tallied seven kills each and had a combined seven blocks.
Stillwell had a solo block on Real to ignite the Harvard-Westlake fans during the fourth set.
The Wolverines also got a huge boost from Camellia Zahri, who checked in to serve during the fourth set after not playing up to that point. She had back-to-back aces to put Harvard-Westlake up 16-14.
“Cami, our number one, came in and gave us some crucial aces in a very crucial time,” Wijay said. “She’s kind of done that for us all season. In fact, her nickname should be ‘Clutch.’ ”
Wijay will now guide the Wolverines into the state title match in her first year at the helm of the program.
“Harvard-Westlake is a talented team, and I think all they needed was someone to come in here and light a fire under them. it was always there,” Wijay said. “Being put in Division I as a one seed was huge for us. I’m really proud of the girls for getting this opportunity, but sometimes it’s luck, and we gotta be prepared for the opportunity.”
The Wolverines are now headed for the state championships.
“I just want to see them play their game,” Wijay said. “I want them to be the Harvard-Westlake girls that I’ve seen all year. Be clean, go after it, be fearless.”
In another match Tuesday:
Mater Dei defeated No. 1 seed Sierra Canyon in four sets, 20-25, 25-10, 25-22, 25-16, to win the CIF Southern California Regional Open Division final and advance to the state championships.