Dropping to her knees near the net, Sophia Loiola dropped started screaming as her teammates came running at her.
They dogpiled on top of her after the senior had just scored the winning point to give Redondo’s girls volleyball team its second consecutive CIF State Division 1 championship.
Coming off the bench, Loiola recorded five kills in the third set to help Redondo (37-4) defeat Northern California champion Menlo-Atherton 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 Saturday night at Santiago Canyon College.
“It feels really good,” Loiola said. “As a senior, it’s my last time with such a special team. We’ve been here before and a lot of people doubted us because we lost so much firepower from last year, so it was good to prove to everyone that we could do it again with such enthusiasm. We were together every point and like (Coach Tommy) Chaffins said ‘We suffocated the other team.’ I was hoping to get in but wasn’t expecting to do what I did. It’s such a blessing I don’t even know what to say.”
As they have done throughout the season, Redondo setter Norene Iosia and outside hitter Megan Rice led the Sea Hawks with senior leadership and stellar performances. Iosia finished with 36 assists, five blocks and four service aces while Rice recorded a match-high 22 kills.
“The key to the match was just letting Megan and Norene do their thing,” Chaffins said. “They were phenomenal; the whole team was phenomenal all year. These kids worked so hard. Everyone accepted their roles; they competed and supported each other.”
Menlo-Atherton was overmatched but stayed within two points of Redondo in the first set before the Sea Hawks broke a 12-12 tie with a 13-4 run for the win.
The Bears scored the first point in the second but it was their last lead of the match. Menlo-Atherton did close the gap to 20-16 in the second set before Redondo pulled away.
The third set was all Redondo. The Sea Hawks led 17-5 giving Chaffins the opportunity to give every senior some playing time.
Using her trademark high jump serve, three of Iosia’s four aces came in the third set including back-to-back aces to give Redondo a 6-1 lead.
“We’ve never seen serves like that. We’re overmatched,” one parent of a Menlo-Atherton player was overheard saying. They (Redondo) just jump higher and swing harder.”
Iosia, a four-year varsity starter as well as four-time All-CIF selection, compared Redondo’s two State championships.
“This one feels more special,” said Iosia, who was referred to as a coach on the court. “Since we lost a big group of seniors that were amazing, a lot of teams underestimated us and doubted that we weren’t going to do as good as we did, but we showed each and every one of them that we could.”
Freshman Kyla Doig added five kills and three-year varsity middle blocker Kacey Baker had two kills to finish her prep career.
“We have a great team connection,” Baker said. “To win it back-to-back is such an amazing feeling. I’m very proud to be a part of what we accomplished this year.”
Unlike last season, Redondo wasn’t expected to challenge for a state title and had to rebound from two losses that would have demoralized manyteams.
The Sea Hawks entered the season ranked No. 5 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA poll, eventually working themselves into the top spot, which they retained going into the playoffs despite losing to rival Mira Costa in the final match of the regular season.
Defeating Redondo for the first time in four years, Mira Costa claimed a share of the Bay League title but Redondo regrouped and reached the CIF-SS championship match facing Mater Dei for the second consecutive season.
A 3-1 loss to the Monarchs dropped the Sea Hawks to the fourth seed in the State Southern California Regional tournament and a sluggish performance in a win against Clovis East in the first round raised a few questions about Redondo’s chances for a repeat.
“I think the losses really helped us get through times of adversity,” Iosia said. “We were getting too comfortable winning. I don’t regret it. Especially the loss to Mater Dei, because I think we felt we had that match but I’m so proud of this team for bouncing back.”
Redondo did bounce back and in a big way. Playing in a hostile environment at Torrey Pines, Redondo upset the top-ranked team in the state 3-1, handing the Falcons only their second loss of the season.
“The turning point for us was the win at Torrey Pines and we continued to play at the highest level these last three matches which is a great sign of their mental toughness,” Chaffins said. “It’s a reflection of this team’s resiliency to get back up, keep fighting and get better every day.”
Following their State Championship team photo, Chaffins held a meeting before the team went out to celebrate.
“We were reflecting on all the good things we did this year,” Loiola said. “We placed really high in the Arizona tournament (Nike TOC), we won our own tournament (Redondo Varsity Classic) and this is a true reflection of how well a team we are and how we stuck together. Ask anyone on the team and they’ll tell you that we’re all best friends with each other. There’s no better feeling than to win this with your best friends.”
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