All-American Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani called it incredible. Senior Abril Bustamante said it was crazy. Coach Tommy Chaffins termed it historical.
Redondo’s girls volleyball team won a five-set thriller Tuesday night against visiting Mater Dei in a rematch of the CIF Division 1AA final won by the Sea Hawks in four sets.
The win was the third of the season against Mater Dei but this time Redondo was pushed to the limit. The Sea Hawks staved off three match points in the fifth set for a 25-20, 25-23, 25-27, 19-25, 20-18 victory to win the CIF Southern California Division 1 Regional title.
Redondo (38-2) advances to Saturday’s CIF State Championship match where the Sea Hawks will face Northern California champion Pitman (44-1), of Turlock, in an 8 p.m. contest at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
Redondo has not lost on its home court since Mater Dei defeated the Sea Hawks 3-2 in the 2013 season opener.
Kristen Hamlin’s seven kills in the first set led Redondo to convincing win and the Sea Hawk faithful were talking sweep after Redondo built an 18-12 lead in the second set.
Mater Dei responded, going on a 10-3 run to take a 22-21 lead. Two kills by Norene Iosia and the dagger by Bedart-Ghani gave the Sea Hawks the win but they knew they were in for a battle.
In the third set, neither team led by more than three points and both defenses made impressive digs against the powerful hits of Bedart-Ghani and Mater Dei’s Alyse Ford which led to electrifying rallies.
Mater Dei carried the momentum into the fourth set, never trailing in the 25-19 win.
The fifth set, played to 15 points, was an epic see-saw battle. With Mater Dei holding an 18-17 lead, two blocks by Hamlin and a kill by Iosia created a wild celebration in Sea Hawk Pavilion.
“It feels great to know that we can beat a team a few times and never let up,” Hamlin said. “Nothing gets to us.”
Chaffins remembered being on the other end of a classic five-set match with the Southern California title on the line. In 2010, Redondo dropped a 19-17 fifth set at Long Beach Poly, preventing the Sea Hawk an opportunity to play for the State championship.
“Mater Dei really picked its game up and took it to a whole other level,” Chaffins said. “There were very few aces and great plays by great players at crucial times. Both teams saved multiple match points. This will go down as a historical match for decades to come.
“I have a group of highly competitive kids. They embrace a great opponent playing well. It is the ultimate high if we can beat an opponent at such a high level and they did it. I don‘t think anyone’s going to get any sleep tonight.”
Chaffins acknowledged the play of his 6-foot-4 outside hitter Bedart-Ghani.
“Yaz plays the best on the biggest stage and that’s what champions do,” Chaffins said. “In the CIF finals she was phenomenal. Tonight she was phenomenal. No matter what happens on Saturday, she’s going to go down as one of high school’s all-time greats. It would be an extra feather in her cap to lead two different schools to the Division 1 State title. I’m not aware of anyone that has ever accomplished that before.”
Bedart-Ghani won two CIF titles and one State title at Marymount before transferring to Redondo before her junior year.
“We haven’t been tested in a fifth game like that all season,” Bedart-Ghani said. “That was such an incredible, intense match. I felt like I was going to throw up.”
Bustamante, a three-year varsity starter, was ecstatic at the opportunity to win a State championship. Saturday’s match will conclude her indoor career as the senior turns her focus to the beach game. She will play sand volleyball for USC next year.
“It’s surreal. It’s what I really wanted since my freshman year and a dream come true,” Bustamante said. “To reach the State championship in the last indoor match I’ll ever play in my life is more than I could have asked for. To win 20-18 in the fifth set, that’s as crazy as it gets. But it’s what we like to do. We like to compete.”
Holding an ice bag on her hand long after the match and awards ceremony was over, Megan Rice said the adrenaline was still pumping.
“That was intense,” Rice said. “I’ve never been in a match where the fifth game as gone that far. That was the most we’ve been tested this year. It really pushed us. We let ‘em get back in it but we’ll learn from that. We live by the motto – Next play focus.”
The State Championship match will feature the top seeds from the Northern and Southern California Regionals. Pitman and Redondo shared one common opponent this season, both losing to Archbishop Mitty of San Jose.
In the MaxPreps rankings, Redondo is ranked No. 3 in the state while Pitman holds the No. 13 position.
