Heralds once again reign supreme in Division 2A

When Whittier Christian won last season’s CIF-SS Division 2A girls volleyball title with an all-junior starting lineup, it was pretty clear the Heralds would be the team to beat in 2013.
Well, they were, and no one could, at least not during the Division 2A playoffs. Whittier Christian swept a young-but-tough squad from Mayfield on Saturday by scores of 25-19, 25-19, 25-19. It was the Heralds’ second consecutive championship and their third trip to the finals in a row.
“It’s surreal,” senior setter Jennifer Washle, one of eight seniors on the team, said of winning back-to-back crowns. “It doesn’t even feel like we won. This goal that we set for ourselves in the summer just happened. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Whittier Christian improved its record to 33-6 and awaits Sunday’s Division 2 pairings release for the upcoming Southern California Regionals. The Heralds are hoping for a little better draw than they got last year, when they were seeded No. 7 out of eight teams and lost on the road in the first round to Riverside ML King.
“We would love to make a great run and enjoy it,” coach Shawn Hunter said of the SoCal playoffs.
Seniors Kylee Wolfe (15 kills, 8 digs), Deanna Blaine (11 kills) and Stephanie Stevenson (10 kills, 2 solo blocks, 3 block assists) did most of the damage, and Washle added 40 assists and five aces, including the match clincher in Set 3.
Whittier Christian played most of the season – and all of the playoffs – with a large target firmly affixed to its back. But the Heralds lost just one set in five matches and showed a remarkable capacity for remaining calm and resilient.
“It’s really hard to come back and win again,” said Wolfe, “and to accomplish that is amazing.”

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