Hidden by bleachers, members of Redondo’s girls volleyball team stood in a circle in the corner of Falcon Gym on the campus of Cerritos College Saturday night discussing the events that had just unfolded.
The Sea Hawks had lost the opportunity to become the school’s first girls volleyball team to win back-to-back CIF titles yet, although disappointed, the players shed no tears and made no excuses knowing they did not play their best match.
“We did not bring our ‘A’ game but played probably a ‘C’ game,” senior Megan Rice admitted. “That’s why there’s nothing to cry over. We deserved to lose.”
In a rematch of last year’s CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA championship match, it was Mater Dei’s turn to celebrate as the Monarch’s won their first title since 2003.
Uncharacteristic errors and a strong blocking game by Mater Dei led to Redondo’s 25-21, 16-25, 25-18, 26-24 loss. Mater Dei recorded 20 blocks in the match, twice the number of Redondo.
Playing in her third CIF championship match, Redondo setter Norene Iosia had experienced both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
“They really stepped up their game tonight,” said Iosia, who recorded a match-high 42 assists. “Their blocking was out of this world. They really mixed up their shots tonight and caught us off guard.”
Redondo never led in the first set but turned the tables holding the lead throughout the second game. The momentum appeared to carry over into the third set, but after Mater Dei evened the score 3-3, the Monarch’s led the rest of the way.
Redondo had a chance to send the match to a fifth game leading for the better part of the fourth set. But after Mater Dei tied the game 17-17, the Monarchs pulled ahead. Redondo staved off three championship points to tie the set 24-24 but Mater Dei’s leading scorer Shannon Scully (22 kills) recorded back-to-back kills for the victory.
“They stepped up their blocking forcing me take shots I normally wouldn’t take,” said Rice, who led Redondo with 22 kills. “When they came back in the fourth set, we lost our energy. They wanted it more and we didn’t.”
Freshman Kyla Doig finished with 10 kills and three blocks, senior Kacey Baker added seven kills and junior Maddie Relaz had five kills for the Sea Hawks.
Redondo coach Tommy Chaffins said the match came down to what he calls ‘Next play focus,” one of his team’s mantras.
“I was so proud of the way we fought back being down in that fourth set,” Chaffins said. “They ended up making a couple of plays to win it, and that’s volleyball. Our opponent was playing well and that rattled us. We didn’t move on to the next play. Mater Dei had better ‘Next play focus’ than we did.”
Despite the loss, Redondo has a positive attitude going into the CIF State tournament when the Sea Hawks begin their quest for a second straight State championship on Tuesday.
“We need to take this game and use it as motivation because we still have a lot to play for,” Rice said. “We didn’t play well but all the games were close so that’s a positive thing. We feel there’s no team in the state that we can’t beat.
Chaffins was also optimistic after addressing his team after the defeat.
“To get to the finals after graduating the talent we did is quite an accomplishment. In the preseason we weren’t picked to be here,” Chaffins said. “Norene and Megan have been so great and our middle has played well. One of goals is to win State so it is still out in front of us. We wanted to win Bay League, we wanted to win CIF and reached the finals. There are a lot of teams that want to still be playing during Thanksgiving week and we are honored to be one of them.”
Brackets and seedings for the statte tournament are available at cifstate.org.
