SANTA ANA — Mater Dei girls volleyball coach Dan O’Dell couldn’t recall a time in recent years when the Monarchs came into a match having lost two in a row, and had won only a single set in those defeats.
But that was the case as the Monarchs took on Huntington Beach in the premier match of the Trinity League-Sunset League Showdown on Thursday at Mater Dei High School.
The Monarchs were a force at the net and at the service line in a 25-21, 25-14, 25-16 sweep of the Oilers.
Mater Dei (3-2), expected to be one of top teams in the Southern Section along with the Oilers (4-1), was swept by Lakewood on Aug. 25 and lost in four sets against Redondo on Tuesday.
The Oilers, meanwhile, had defeated Lakewood in five sets on Aug. 18, a perfect example of the parity among the CIF Southern Section’s top teams this season, O’Dell said.
“There doesn’t seem to be one or two teams ahead of the pack,” O’Dell sad. “I think there is a cluster of about eight teams that on any given night can beat anyone. Going into tonight, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.”
Mater Dei served eight aces, including four by senior setter Amelie Lima.
Junior outside hitter Isabel Clark and senior middle blocker Liv Hertzog, both key players from Mater Dei’s 2021 team that reached the CIF SS Division 1 finals, combined for nine blocks.
Clark also led the Monarchs with 10 kills
“I think we’re on the right path,” O’Dell said. “I was disappointed with the effort we had against Lakewood. Against Redondo, I felt we had a much better attitude. Tonight, I thought it was a combination of having good energy, we were focused and we executed.”
Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said his Oilers didn’t play with the same intensity they had displayed in matches against Lakewood and Redondo, when they came from two sets down to win both matches.
“They made us look as bad as we’ve looked in a long time,” Pazanti said. “It wasn’t like we played bad. They made us look bad tonight. They are a big, physical team. When they are passing the ball well, they are going to be tough to beat. We didn’t bring our best effort tonight and when you don’t bring your best effort against a good team on the road, that’s what is going to happen.”
Haylee LaFontaine led the Oilers with 10 kills.
Also in the Trinity-Sunset Showdown:
JSerra defeated Los Alamitos 21-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-22 at Mater Dei.
Ruby Hill and Tatum Johnson led the Lions (6-3) with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, and Lauren Coady had eight blocks against the Griffins (3-3).
“I feel like we were in control of our side,” JSerra coach Mike Murphy said. “We’ve been working on our culture and out attitude and the kids managed that tonight.”