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Lightning girls volleyball team rallies in first league match

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT COAST -- Sage Hill School’s rally in girls volleyball

Monday night fired up the host Lightning fans so much, the referee

stopped the match at one point and asked them to quiet down.

But there was nothing Capistrano Valley Christian could do to slow

the Lightning, who lost the first two games without much of a fight,

then stormed came back to win three straight games and defeat the

Eagles, 5-15, 2-15, 18-16, 15-10, 15-13 in near-miracle proportions

in Sage Hill’s first varsity Academy League contest.

“I was just telling my players, I’ve never coached a team that

lost the first two games and came back to win,” said Sage Hill Coach

Ingrid Gustavson, whose squad (2-1 overall) staved off two match

points in the third game, then tied Capo Valley Christian, 16-16,

before winning with senior Alexi Hands at serve. It was her service

winner that crowned Sage Hill’s third-game comeback.

With tense moments throughout the riveting league opener, Sage

Hill finished strong in the fourth game after a 10-10 deadlock,

capturing the game’s last five points unanswered with freshman

standout Shelley Smith (four kills) at serve.

Sophia Hillgren, a standout freshman middle blocker who had a

match-high nine kills for the Lightning, provided four scoring kills

during Sage Hill’s late fourth-game stretch, including the eventual

14th point when Sage Hill freshman Cat Dailey kept the rally alive

with a terrific dig. Dailey also kept the previous point alive with

two excellent digs, a rally finished by freshman Vista Murphy’s kill.

Dailey also added six kills and two stuff blocks, while Murphy had

five kills and freshman setter Debbie Yoder-Lee ended with 10

assists.

In the fifth game, Sage Hill pulled away from a 4-4 tie by rolling

off seven straight points to take a commanding lead with Dailey at

serve. The Lightning built a 14-8, but Capo Valley Christian (3-4)

came back to pull within one. Murphy, however, punched home the

match-winner on the next point with a kill down the middle and off

the fists.

“This is huge (for our program),” Gustavson said. “You just won

your first league match; you just won your second home game in a row.

The kids really have a lot of potential and it feels great to start

out this way.”

Gustavson, whose team plays Wednesday at Saddleback Valley

Christian in a nonleague match at 3:30 p.m., said her team’s youth

and inexperience caused the Lightning to drop the first two games

easily.

“I was frustrated, because I knew we could play better,” she said.

Abby Pierik led Capo Valley Christian with seven kills and five

aces. Candice Collins added six kills and four aces.

*

SAILING: UCI second

The UC Irvine men’s sailing team finished second at the Sloop

Pacific Coast Championships last weekend along the channels in

Newport Harbor.

USC won the seven-race regatta with 14 points and advanced to the

Intercollegiate Collegiate Sailing Association Sloop Nationals in

Newport, R.I., Nov. 1-3.

The Anteaters placed second in the Sloop Pacific Coast with 21

points, topping 10th-ranked Stanford in third (28). Fifth-ranked

Hawaii finished in seventh place.

UCI was skippered by Barrett Sprout and crew Jordan Korss and Jon

Boyd.

*

GOLF: OCC women fall

The Orange Coast College women’s golf team lost to host Santiago

Canyon, 340-400, in an Orange Empire Conference match Monday at El

Prado Golf Club (par 72) in Chino. Golden West’s Lisa Sweller was the

medalist in the four-way match with a 75.

OCC’s Joanne Durocher (90), Mijanou Pham (94), Diane Valoff (103)

and Morgan Whitely (113) scored for Coach Barry Wallace’s Pirates

(3-4, 3-3 in the OEC). Orange Coast will face host Saddleback at

Tajeras Creek on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

*

GOLF: Sea Kings win

Corona del Mar High sophomore Katie Albright stepped up her game

to share medalist honors with senior teammate Jennifer Woo to lead

the Sea Kings to a 210-249 girls golf victory over host Laguna Beach

Monday in the Pacific Coast League opener at Aliso Creek Golf Club.

Albright and Woo shot 6-over-par 38, while teammates Jackie McCoy

(40), Veronica Friedman (45) and Maggie Nelson (49), rounded out the

winning effort for Coach Mike Starkweather’s squad. CdM improved to

3-4.

*

TENNIS : Sage Hill wins

Freshmen singles standouts Kellie Ammerman and Katie McKitterick

both swept to help host Sage Hill earn a 14-4 nonleague girls tennis

victory over Rancho Alamitos Monday at Park Newport.

McKitterick won 18 of 21 games, while Ammerman won 18 of 25 to

help the Lightning improve to 5-2.

Junior Annie Levin and freshman Grace Graham combined to win two

doubles sets for the hosts, who return to Academy League play

Thursday when they host Oxford Academy. Rancho Alamitos fell to 7-2.

NONLEAGUE

Sage Hill 14, Rancho Alamitos 4

Singles -- Ammerman (SH) def. Mazaheri, 6-3, def. Tran,

6-3, def. Tonnu, 6-1; McKitterick (SH) won, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0; Fullmer

(SH) won, 6-1, lost, 3-6, won, 6-0.

Doubles -- Tomlinson-Chen (SH) lost to Chung-Lee, 5-7,

def. Pham-Concepcion, 7-5, def. Runyard-Nguyen, 7-5; Burman-Webb (SH)

lost, 5-7, won, 7-5, won, 6-4; Levin-Graham (SH) won, 6-2, lost, 5-7,

won, 6-3.

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