Marina’s magical run ends with loss to Buckley in CIF Division 5 final
NORWALK — The Marina High girls’ volleyball team made a postseason run that even they could not believe had come to fruition.
After an extended absence from the CIF Southern Section playoffs, the Vikings found themselves on the biggest of stages, and that is when the carriage turned back into a pumpkin on a Cinderella story.
Sherman Oaks Buckley had the answers in serve receive, paving the way for the Griffins to earn a 25-21, 25-23, 25-19 sweep of the Vikings on Saturday in the Division 5 final at Cerritos College.
Buckley (21-2), the Liberty League champion, won its second title in program history. The Griffins also won the Division 8 title over Capistrano Valley Christian in 2017.
“I told this team from the beginning, ‘We are the dominant team. We are the better team, but the better team doesn’t always win,’” Buckley coach Otis Glasgow said. “As long as we focus on our fundamentals and we execute on the things that we’ve been doing in practice, that’s the team when we play together.
“It was beautiful. We were clicking on all cylinders, even when we were making mistakes.”
The Griffins had more opportunities to play in system, allowing for more aggressive swings from junior middle blocker Sophia Wolfson, a Brown University commit, and junior outside hitter Adonia Anene.
Buckley’s back-row passing had junior setter Charlotte Reff running the offense from the top of the net. Sophomore outside hitter Tate Drageset was a standout in serve receive.
“The biggest thing … when I first saw the first bit of film on Marina was they have a really good jump serve,” said Glasgow, who added he personally was jump serving to his team in preparation for the Vikings. “That’s not something you see in the girls’ game a lot. … Our serve receive was just a major focus, and … it definitely paid off.”
Marina (18-15) was seeking its first CIF title since 2002, when it beat Manhattan Beach Mira Costa for the Division IA championship.
After drawing into the bracket as an at-large selection, the Vikings reeled off straight-sets wins against Whittier California, Monrovia, top-seeded Quartz Hill and Kennedy.
“This is a lot of people’s dream to play in a place like this with everyone watching and playing in such a great game,” Vikings senior setter Jordan Packer said, admitting that the pressure of the moment was felt by her team. “We’re all so blessed to have the opportunity to be playing in playoffs.”
Senior outside hitter Dominique Vadeboncoeur had 13 kills and two blocks to lead Marina. Senior outside hitter Jalissa Costa added five kills and four service aces, and junior middle blocker Lyndsey Wessel chipped in with four kills. Packer, often on the run in the match, delivered 27 assists to go with four aces. Junior outside hitter Jenna Zaffino also had two blocks.
Marina’s best opportunity of the match saw the Vikings take a 19-15 lead in the second set, but it slipped through their fingers. Drageset had the ace that closed out the set.
“We’ve been in matches with spotlights, but we hadn’t been challenged so it didn’t really matter,” Marina coach Jake Nuneviller said. “This is the first time that we were pushed in a game that was important, and I don’t think we responded to that as well as we maybe could have.
“On the plus side, we’ve got a match coming up next week for the [CIF State Southern California] regionals. Having experienced pressure in an important game is going to help us.”
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