Girls volleyball: Mater Dei rolls through Tars

Richard Dunn

SANTA ANA - At this pace, another rivalry is brewing between two

Orange County girls volleyball powers.

Even though Mater Dei High’s nonleague victory Wednesday night over

visiting Newport Harbor seemed relatively easy, Monarchs Coach Craig

Pazanti knows better than to assume similar results against the Sailors

down the road.

“You’ll see that Newport Harbor team come back,” Pazanti said. “I’ve

seen Dan Glenn (the Sailors’ coach) do too much for too long.”

Mater Dei’s Monarchs (5-0), ranked No. 2 in the Orange County poll,

swept the Sailors, 15-6, 15-2, 16-14 in a match lasting 64 minutes.

“That’s a good Mater Dei team, and it has a lot of kids back,” said

Glenn, whose Tars (1-2), ranked third in the county, stumbled out of the

gate.

“We had a disappointing start in the first game. We just couldn’t

convert on anything and I called timeout (down 6-3). I told my kids we

should be leading now.”

Much of the match was the same for the two-time defending CIF Southern

Section and state Division I champions, as Mater Dei’s serving proved too

tough, forcing several Newport Harbor errors.

In the third game, Newport Harbor held a 13-8 lead and appeared ready

to extend the match. But Mater Dei, which finished second in last

weekend’s Las Vegas Durango Tournament, rallied for the win.

At match point, a mishandled ball by a Harbor setter provided the

clincher for the Monarchs, the third such miscue for the Tars in the

game’s final four serves.

“They served tough,” Glenn said of the Monarchs, “and we didn’t pass

very well. We’re pretty predictable when we don’t get a good pass. But a

lot of (our shaky passing) has to do with Mater Dei and its serving.”

Playing its 10th match in six days (counting the Durango Tournament),

Mater Dei had no letdown facing Newport Harbor, which defeated the

Monarchs in last year’s state semifinals, 15-7, 16-14, 15-6, after Mater

Dei beat the Sailors in four games earlier in a nonleague clash.

“We play hard and try not to get outhustled, because Newport Harbor

usually play hard,” Pazanti said. “It’s not Corona del Mar-Newport

Harbor, but it’s a good rivalry between us. We’ve won some football

titles at Mater Dei and we’ve won some basketball titles. We’re just

trying to get some in girls volleyball.”

Breegan Mulligan, a 6-foot middle blocker for the Monarchs who is

nursing a sore ankle, paced Mater Dei with 10 kills. Katie Kahlweiss

(eight digs), Kelley Kincheloe (five kills) and Whitney Pavlik (four

kills and 3 1/2 blocks) were also solid for Mater Dei.

Freshman Alyson Jennings led Newport Harbor with 11 kills, while

senior Taylor Govaars (eight), junior Liz Lord (four) and sophomore

Kristin McClune (three) also had their turns at the net.

“Alyson’s really good, but I don’t think she’s as far along physically

as the others (who have started as freshman),” Glenn said. “But,

ball-control-wise, she’s just as good as Misty (May) was as a freshman

(in 1991).”

Jennings this year joins May, Jennifer Carey, April Ross, Jeannette

Hecker, Maureen McLaren and Tara Kroesch in the elite company of Newport

Harbor freshmen starters.

“A lot of that also has to do with who we lost (from last year’s

squad) -- we lost nine seniors,” added Glenn, whose team will host

Huntington Beach, ranked No. 4 in the county, in nonleague action Friday

night at 6:30.

“The Oilers will be fired up, because we ambushed them in the (Dave

Mohs Memorial Tournament).”

Mater Dei did the ambushing Wednesday night.

In the opener, Katie King served an ace for the Tars, cutting Mater

Dei’s lead to 6-5. But the Monarchs rolled to a convincing nine-point

victory.

In the second game, Mater Dei raced to an 8-1 lead and never looked

back, then a competitive third game slipped away from Newport Harbor

after leads of 11-6 and 13-8. In the third, the Sailors erased an early

6-1 deficit.

To rally the Monarchs, Tiffany Brooks’ serving led to five straight

points and the game’s first match point. But a sideout and ensuing

service ace by Newport Harbor’s Colby George tied the game, 14-14.