Though, not to be forgotten, the seniors did have an outstanding day. Rallis had 21 digs, senior captain Courtney McCutchan led the team with 11 kills and senior Hayley Woodford had 33 assists.
In a game that went so right for the Spartans, things weren’t quite as smooth for the Tologs (11-4-1), who lost in straight sets for the first time this year, let alone to a team they had beaten for six straight years.
“We had more errors than kills,” said Tologs Head Coach Shelley Orlandini. “Not gonna win with that.”
Orlandini and Spartans Head Coach Brock Turner are long-time friends.
“Like Brock said, these are the games that are supposed to teach you what you need to do to make your team better,” Orlandini said.
Tolog Camille Coffey, who leads her team in kills with 185 kills, had 11 kills on 44 attempts—a very low percentage. Likewise, Tolog Mary Schroeder had only three kills and two blocks.
The loss for Sacred Heart is only the second time this season they’ve lost in three straight games—the other one was to Long Beach Poly.
The game was marked by a number of long rallies, rallies that often went on for minutes.
“The best thing about today was we were winning a lot of those long rallies,” said Turner.
Turner, along with a number of his players, pointed to this game as maybe the biggest win en route to the CIF Division II-A playoffs.
“I usually say, ‘Don’t look at the scoreboard,’” said Turner, “but today, I said, ‘look at the scoreboard. For every point they get, we get two.’ This game reminded me of the Long Beach (Poly) game. Consistent play. Get a lead, hold onto it and don’t look back.
“[The girls have] made significant strides between last year and this year and I’m gonna say that’s a good sign if we won CIF last year.”
There was no certain point at which the Spartans took the game over, but rather there was a slow and steady lead that developed throughout each game.
At the start of game 2, the Spartans took a two-point lead, 3-1, on two successful blocks and a kill by sophomore Clare Hilsen.
The Spartans increased the lead from 13-10 to 16-11 on three kills by McCutchan, Hilsen and Anderson. A couple of two-touches by FSHA gave La Cañada a 21-14 lead and the Spartans put it away, 25-15, on kills by Pierce, McCutchan and the final dagger by Hilsen.
Similarly, game 3 started with a 5-5 tie until La Cañada reeled off four points. A McCutchan kill and a shot out of bounds by the Tologs made it 15-8. A kill by Pierce made it 21-13 and McCutchan put the match to bed on a kill to make it 25-16.
The game was played in less than an hour.
