No stopping Sage Hill in Academy League

Reporting from Cerritos —  The only real question surrounding the Sage Hill School girls’ volleyball match against Cerritos Whitney on Tuesday was whether it would keep its string of sweeping opponents intact.

The Lightning did.

Sage Hill finished the regular season undefeated in the Academy League with a 25-15, 25-15, 28-26 sweep of the host Wildcats.

Senior outside hitter Kayla Gratzer led Sage Hill (20-8, 12-0 in league) to its fifth straight sweep, finishing with 10 kills and five digs.

Sage Hill went unbeaten in league for the second straight year, and third time overall under coach Dan Thomassen.

Sophomore Danielle Beder had nine kills and freshman middle blocker Emily Elliot finished with eight kills.

Senior Jade Blevins produced three service aces.

The Lightning haven’t lost a set since a nonleague loss to Laguna Beach on Oct. 11.

But the streak almost ended against the Wildcats.

The Lightning easily won the first two sets but then found themselves in a battle until the end in the third.

The Wildcats had a 24-23 lead and they could have ended Sage Hill’s streak at set point. But Beder’s kill tied the score and an ace from Blevins put the Lightning up 25-24.

After Sage Hill’s back row couldn’t handle a hard kill, Whitney evened things up at 25-25.

After a lengthy rally, Sage Hill won the point and led 26-25. Then Hana Stauss served an ace to end the match.

“I like that our girls had to fight a little bit at the end,” Thomassen said. “[Whitney] made some nice plays over there and we had a few players playing out of position.”

Thomassen said he purposely placed players in different positions to take them a little out of their comfort zone.

“We are trying to get them to play with a little more fearlessness,” Thomassen said. “That is something we’ve been working on all year.”

Thomassen also gave backup players time on the court.

He also credited Blevins, a setter and four-year starter, with being the court leader and a calming influence on her teammates.

“She had to set some different people,” Thomassen said. “When we need a big play, she comes up with it.”

Sage Hill is ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 poll, just behind No. 3 Laguna Beach.

Sage Hill will likely receive one of the top four seeds in the playoffs. The section will release the playoff pairings on Thursday, and the wild-card round begins Saturday.

The Wildcats led 4-1 in the first set when the Lightning went on a 9-2 run, an 8-4 run, and then closed out the set on a 6-4 run.

Sage Hill wrapped up the second set on an 18-8 run.

LOU PONSI is a contributor to Times Community News: Follow him on Twitter: @L_Ponsi