Sage Hill edges Laguna Beach
Sage Hill School and Laguna Beach have cruised through their respective leagues undefeated. They met on Wednesday in a nonleague girls’ volleyball match, and in this one, no side had it easy.
They challenged each other. And with the CIF Southern Section playoffs around the corner, both programs welcomed a tough contest.
They got an early taste of the playoffs, and each looked playoff ready. If this were the postseason, the Lightning would be moving on, as Sage Hill rallied for a 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 28-26, 15-13 win at home.
For the first time this year, Sage Hill and Laguna Beach went the distance in a match. There was a little controversy at the end of Game 5.
Laguna Beach thought it would be at match point, instead the head ref called the Breakers for four contacts, giving the Lightning a 14-13 lead. Both coaches, Laguna Beach’s Carson Tanner and Sage Hill’s Dan Thomassen, looked surprised. They believed that Sage Hill’s Amiyah De’Long reached over the net to touch the ball, a clear violation.
The ref appeared to miss the call and he didn’t give the Breakers much time to argue it. He quickly signaled for the next serve. That next serve by Sage Hill’s Sarah Lowey caught the Breakers off guard.
Lowey dropped in a service ace and Sage Hill, ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 poll, pulled one out in dramatic fashion.
“I felt like going in we were a little sloppy early, and I wasn’t too surprised [because] it’s just kind of been an odd week for us with the quarter change and no classes today, but our track record for these girls is that regardless of how we start, they’re going to battle,” Thomassen said. “We got better and just did what we needed to do. It was a toss up at the end and we got a little fortunate.”
Sage Hill (19-11) topped Laguna Beach (12-10) for the third time in the last four meetings. For Tanner, who is in his first year in charge of the Breakers, this was his first time seeing the Lightning.
Laguna Beach had three players — Lexi McKeown (18 kills), Soren Patchell (16) and Cambria Hall (10) — lead the way. While Tanner said he didn’t like the way the fifth set, which featured seven ties, ended, he saw a talented Sage Hill program.
De’Long, a sophomore, led the Lightning with 22 kills and Jamie Dailey added 18 kills. The two have been a force for Sage Hill, which is trying to complete its second undefeated Academy League title in the program’s history.
Three league matches remain for Sage Hill, at Downey Calvary Chapel on Thursday, play host to Whitney on Friday, and travel to play Brethren Christian on Tuesday. Sage Hill is looking to finish 12-0 in league for the second time since 2014, when it went on to claim its second straight section title and reach the CIF State Southern California Regional Division III finals for a second consecutive time.
“Beating a quality Division 2 team like Laguna, [which has] been ranked in the top 10 [in the past], says a lot,” said Thomassen, whose team played Laguna Beach a day after the Breakers improved to 8-0 in the Orange Coast League. “I think the way we won is what I’m most pleased about. We weren’t all at our best. Our passing and serving were OK. Our defense was not very good tonight. If we get better in a couple of areas, I think we have a good shot to go far.”
