Harvard-Westlake sweeps Woodcreek to win girls volleyball state title

ORANGE — The Cinderella Story. That’s what Harvard-Westlake’s girls volleyball team was trying to finish off a year after missing postseason play with 13 wins.

On Friday night at Santiago Canyon College, the Wolverines showed that the slipper does indeed fit in a 25-22, 25-14, 25-17 sweep of Woodcreek that secured the school’s sixth CIF-State title, for a second time in five years in Division I, and gives the school the most state titles without dropping a match.

“You don’t ever take these moments for granted because you never know when you’ll get to come back here and experience it again,” Wolverines coach Morgan Wijay said. “I was watching this special group of girls from afar struggle through a tough season last year when the administration reached out to gauge my interest in coming over here. Part of what I love about coaching is rebuilding programs, and that’s what drew me to them and this opportunity. I am so proud of them for putting it together as quickly as they have to win what arguably is one of the toughest state championships to win nationwide.”

Senior outside hitter Kylie Parker led the Wolverines with 14 kills and 15 digs, while Sophia Cotter added 11 kills.

Harvard-Westlake jumped out to an early 5-1 lead off a kill from Lewis and a pair of kills from Maya Stillwell. A solo block and kill from Lauryn Lewis, along with a kill from Kahala Faucher down the line, gave the Wolverines a lead at 21-15. Woodcreek cut the lead to a point at 23-22 on an out-of-system kill from Liliana Saldivar.  The Wolverines’ Mattea Pisani closed out a set one win with the first of her two aces in Friday’s match.

Set two was more of the same as Harvard-Westlake jumped out to a 13-7 lead. Sophia Cotter had four kills while Maya Stilwell assisted on a pair of blocks and added a kill in the opening push. Woodcreek got as close as 14-10 after the Wolverines were called for a back-row attacking infraction. However, the Wolverines went on a 6-0 run to push out the margin to 20-11. An ace from Ashley Sakonju and a combination block by Sophia Cotter and Lewis gave Harvard-Westlake the 2-0 lead.

Woodcreek hung with Harvard-Westlake for much of the third set, trailing 15-13 after an ace from Madison Walsh. Parker had five kills to lead the Wolverines in jumping out to that early lead while Faucher added a pair of her own. However, the Wolverines closed out their sweep with three aces in the last four points, including back-to-back aces from Sakonju to set off a championship celebration.

Kills were hard to come by for Woodcreek’s offense, which hit .000 for sets two and three with 14 kills and 14 errors.

“With coach Wijay, we had a different end of the spectrum than what we’ve had here previously and after that first week of summer workouts in July, I’ve never left feeling as sore as I did, but to be the team holding the trophy and making the slipper fit made everything so worth it.” Parker said.