Girls Volleyball: St. Lucy’s shows why it’s No. 1 and defending CIF champs in sweep over South Hills; Next up, No. 2 Chino Hills on Thursday in rematch of last year’s 2AA championship

By John Honell
The Sierra League, with three teams ranked in the top five, has been recognized as the premier volleyball league in CIF-Southern Section Division 2AA. Top-ranked and defending champion St. Lucy’s Priory looked like a champion in knocking off fifth- ranked South Hills 25-23, 25-14, 25-16 Tuesday. The first game was close, with the Huskies (11-4 overall, 1-1 league) jumping out to a 14-9 lead before the Regents (11-3, 2-0) battled back to tie the score 15-15. “They were beating us pretty good,” Regents coach Sean Douglas said. “This place gets really loud and it’s hard to play in here.” No. 1 St. Lucy’s will host No. 2 Chino Hills on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., in a rematch of last year’s Division 2AA title, won by the Regents after both teams split during the Sierra League.(to continue reading click thread)

Tuesday’s league results
Baseline
Upland 3, Glendora 1
Hacienda
Bonita 3, Walnut 1
Diamond Bar 3, Rowland 0
Los Altos 3, West Covina 0
Montview
Azusa 3, Gladstone 0
Bassett 3, Sierra Vista 2
Sierra
Ayala 3, Charter Oak 0
Chino Hills 3, Claremont 0

Girls Volleyball Top Ten
Records provided by Maxpreps
1. St. Lucy’s (11-3)
2. Chino HIlls (14-2)
3. South Hills (11-4)
4. Claremont (6-5)
5. Bonita (8-6)
6. San Dimas (13-1)
7. Bishop Amat (7-3)
8. Diamond Bar (8-3)
9. El Monte (11-3)
10. Los Altos (7-6)


There were four ties before the Regents went on a 4-1 run, including a block and a kill by opposite hitter Jasmine Warmington to put the game away.

“St. Lucy’s is smart,” Huskies coach Charm Doyle said. “They made adjustments and we made errors. We didn’t move on. We had that first game and just gave it back to them.”

With St. Lucy’s trailing 6-5 in the second game, sophomore Veronica LaPierre got a kill to tie the score, then Ashley Rivera served for eight consecutive points, without an ace, for a 14-6 lead. The Huskies never recovered.

“Ashley did a great job,” Douglas said. “I gave her zones to hit and I think it got them frustrated.

That’s a rotation you can take advantage of, and she did a good job with it because they gave us easy balls back.”

Warmington led the Regents’ attack in the first game, then LaPierre and Arden Davis took control of the net in the second.

All of them took advantage of the game management and perfect sets of senior setter Jackie Macy, who had 42 sets in the three games.

“We’ve worked on spreading out the net and not working on just one person,” Macy said. “That helps the team, a lot. We came back in that first game and then took control in the second. We had a couple of runs in the second and third games and we could relax.”

Marisa Gomez had 9 kills in the first game for the Huskies but was held to 12 for the match.

“Getting 10 sets a game is really good,” Douglas said. “Jackie had 42 in three games. She knows how to set her hitters, and where to go to stay away from (the opponent’s) strengths. The good thing we have is a lot of trust in all our players.”

The third game was all Regents, as Rivera served for nine consecutive points, again with no aces, for a 13-5 lead.

LaPierre led the Regents with 12 kills while playing only two games. Warmington added 11 as Macy spread the ball around.

“Everyone knows our big weapon is Jasmine,” Douglas said. “She hits the ball hard and she makes people think. The second we establish her, the other kids get lost in the shuffle. We’re very balanced; we’re not a one-trick pony at all. We try to keep them guessing.”

The Regents will host second- ranked Chino Hills on Tuesday. The two tied for the league title last year, with the home team winning each head-to-head match. The two met in the CIF championship match, with the Regents coming out on top.

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