ALISO VIEJO – No team in the South Coast League has been able to defeat the San Juan Hills girls volleyball team in a match since 2105.
This season, Aliso Niguel has come close … twice.
The Wolverines and Stallions on Tuesday took the court for the second time this season, and for the second time, five games were needed to decide the outcome.
San Juan Hills won the first two games and was poised to send everyone in the Aliso Niguel gym home early, but the Wolverines weren’t about to give up and won the next two games to set up a fifth set. The Stallions won the final set to come away with a 25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 20-25, 15-8 victory.
The Stallions (10-4, 5-0) stretched their league winning streak to 25 and extended their lead in the South Coast League to two games over second-place Aliso Niguel (9-3, 3-2).
“I told my team I was really proud of the way we fought back, but I really think we can do a better job of not getting in that position in the first place,” San Juan Hills Jessica Papell said. “We knew what a good team they (the Wolverines) are. They gave us a really good, five-set match the first time.”
The Stallions are led by a groups of tall, powerful hitters in Brianne Albright, who had eight kills, and Abbey Dayton, Madison Beebe and Brianne Albright, who had 15, 12 and eight kills, respectively.
Whenever either of them received a good pass and got off a clean hit, they almost always got the point with a blistering shot.
“I think a big part of us coming back was celebrating the little things,” Albright said. “If we got a kill, it was about celebrating it and getting everybody excited.”
The Stallions, who are ranked No. 7 in the CIF-SS Division 1 and 2 combined poll, opened the first set with an 8-1 run, from which the Wolverines couldn’t recover.
The second set was a bit closer, but San Juan Hills was in control most of the way.
Aliso Niguel won the third and fourth sets by playing good defense, keeping several balls in the air that seemed certain to hit the floor.
The Wolverines were also led by the net play of Jessica Smith, who had the majority of kills and blocks for her team throughout the match.
San Juan Hills started out the fifth set on a 9-4 run and then closed out the set and the match with a 6-4 run.
“They are very well-rounded,” Aliso Niguel coach Richelle Whiting said of the Stallions. “They’ve got three amazing hitters in the front row.”