Heralds rise above; advance to Division 2A girls volleyball finals

Whittier Christian High School, after graduating the core of a team that advanced to the girls volleyball divisional semifinals last season, had no big expectations this fall.
But funny things happen when you least expect it, and that certainly proved to be true for the Heralds.
Sophomore outside hitter Deanna Blaine had 16 kills and senior opposite Jaclyn Barrera had eight and the host Whittier Christian made up for last season's disappointment with a 20-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 victory over Oxnard Tuesday night in a CIF-Southern Section
Division 2A semifinal.
Whittier Christian, also getting a solid passing effort from senior setter Jaden Louie, improved to 24-2 and will face either Downey or Palm Desert in the championship game either Friday or Saturday at Cypress College. CIF-SS will set the day and time on Wednesday.
The Yellowjackets, getting a 19 kills from Alysha Rivera, finished 18-18.
Whittier Christian coach Shawn Hunter: "As much as I can, I try to teach these girls to just compete. The scoreboard can play games with your head a little bit. If we compete and not worry about the score, good things can happen."
Senior Jaden Louie: "We're so excited. At the beginning of the year, because we lost so many players, we didn't think we could get this far. But we actually went further than we thought we could, so we're pretty excited about that."