Redondo’s girls volleyball team has shown no letdown since defeating Mater Dei for the CIF title, posting its second consecutive sweep in the State Division 1 Championships.
Top-seeded Redondo (37-2) posted a 25-12, 25-10, 25-13 win over visiting Clovis Saturday night and will play for the Southern California Regional championship Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a rematch of the CIF Southern Section Division 1AA championship match.
Redondo (37-2) will host third-seeded Mater Dei (30-11) who swept Santiago 25-21, 25-11, 25-18 in its State Division 1 semifinal match. The winner of Tuesday’s match will face the Pitman-Menlo Atherton winner for the State title at 8 p.m. Saturday at Santiago Canyon College.
After Clovis, the Central Section Division 1 champion, opened the match with an ace, Redondo never trailed again. The Sea Hawks scored 10 unanswered points to take a 21-8 lead and cruised to a first-set win.
Redondo held a 20-10 lead in the second game before Clovis closed the gap to 20-17 in arun that included three consecutive aces. But the Sea Hawks held on and then jumped out to a 16-4 lead in the third set giving Coach Tommy Chaffins the opportunity to rest many of his starters.
Abril Bustamante led Redondo with 13 kills and two blocks. Megan Rice recorded seven kills and three blocks. Sophomore Maddie Relaz contributed a season-high eight kills. Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani and Kristen Hamlin both added five kills and Norene Iosia had 28 assists.
“I knew they (Clovis) had two or three really great outside hitters,” Chaffins said. “I think our kids did a good job of serving well and neutralizing them. Clovis also had to make a four-hour bus ride on Tuesday and was coming off an emotional 5-set win – and unbelievable win that was great for their program – and then another long trip to play us so they could have been a little low on emotion and gas.
“They pushed us a little in the second set but our girls made the plays. Abril was unbelievable having 13 kills in 16 swings. Megan and Maddie both played great.”
Rice said she felt confident going into the match with Clovis bit wasn’t sure what to expect.
“When you get to the State playoffs, any team can beat another,” Rice said. “We just focus on playing our game and continue to work hard in practice.”
“We’re really looking forward to playing Mater Dei again,” Relaz said.
Chaffins said he feels Redondo and Mater Dei are the two best teams in Southern California.
“We’ll have one more match against each other to play some high-level volleyball,” Chaffins said.
