Seahawks take flight atop Golden West League
Between a sizable and vocal crowd on senior night and a chance to win a league championship against a rival, everything the Ocean View High girls’ volleyball team might have hoped for was right in front of them.
For much of the evening, it looked like Westminster might spoil the party, just as the Seahawks did in the second half of league a year ago.
Three points shy of defeat, Ocean View seized momentum, and its destiny, winning five of the last six points to earn a home-and-home sweep of the Lions and win the Golden West League outright.
Lizbeth Espinoza tapped an overpass to the floor on the final point, giving the host Seahawks a 23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13 win in the regular season finale on Wednesday.
“It was so much emotion,” said Espinoza, whose match-winning kill sparked a court-rushing celebration from the Ocean View bench.
Ocean View (11-9, 9-1), which advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 7 quarterfinals last season, looks to chart its next course under first-year head coach Colleen Burke. The section will release its girls’ volleyball playoff pairings on Saturday at 10 a.m.
“It was definitely a good stepping-off point for CIF, for sure, just to be in that excitement mode again because it is something to kind of learn and grow through and be poised in big moments,” Burke said. “I think having to fight back, especially after being down in the third game and having to come back and win the next two was a big deal. That takes a lot of composure and mental toughness.”
Both Ocean View and Westminster (12-16, 7-3), the second-place team in the league, will look to see where they land in the Division 6 draw this time around.
Jade Auger started slow, but she wound up with a team-high 15 kills for the Seahawks. The senior outside hitter weighed in with her thoughts on her new coach.
“I think Coach Burke has the best intentions, in my opinion, and she is really motivated to go far in CIF this year,” Auger said. “She has brought a lot of structure to our team and to our entire program, helping us be able to strive to win league and be better than we have been in the past.”
As a league champion, Natalia Christensen said she is looking forward to the prospect of playing at home in the postseason. The senior setter contributed 35 assists and three service aces in the league-clinching victory.
“I think it’s just really comforting being able to play at home,” Christensen said. “You know what to expect from the gym. You’re not walking into a foreign gym, and it’s like 90 degrees in there, and you’re not used to it.”
Sara Ligman had nine kills, her last knotting the score at 13-13 in the fifth set before consecutive kills by Espinoza (11 kills) closed it out. Samantha Abascal and Charlotte Johnson each had four kills, and Isabel Escuro and Alysa Cruz had two aces apiece.
Westminster served well in its bid to grab a share of the league title. Leyna Pham, Angelina Vo, Fabiana Padilla and Jenna Shim each had three aces.
Harumi Padilla led the Lions with 18 kills, followed by Sophia Le’s 10 kills and Annalee Smith’s eight kills.
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