WOODLAND HILLS — The Notre Dame girls volleyball team had checked a big goal off its list before playing Louisville on Monday night.
Win the Angelus League title for the first time: check
Notre Dame reached another goal by the end of the night — finish undefeated in league — with a victory over the Royals, 25-21, 25-14, 22-25, 25-18.
Notre Dame (23-7, 8-0) had already clinched a share of the league title last week, but still needed a win Monday to avoid having to share it with the Royals.
The Knights came close to a sweep before Louisville (20-6, 6-2) played its scrappiest set of the night in the third, which was only the second set Notre Dame league dropped in league this year.
The Knights bounced back in the fourth set and charged to the finish.
Notre Dame was led by sophomore outside hitter Sierra Hitchcock, who tallied a match-high 19 kills along with one block and an ace.
Serving was key for the Knights, who went on several big runs during the match, including a streak of four straight aces from sophomore Reese Kehrli. Freshman setter-opposite Jade Morgan added back-to-back aces from a smooth topspin jump serve a few points before Kehrli’s run.
“To their credit, it’s fun to have some versatility,” said Knights coach Jon Dazé. “We have servers that can kind of move it short and deep with not too much power, so when we need that accuracy, they can deliver. And other girls, I just say green light, and they just jump, float tough. And we have a top spinner that can spin it with some power.”
Kehlri added nine kills while Morgan had seven.
The Knights had 16 kills in the first set, doubling the Royals’ total.
Notre Dame’s big swingers kept firing away throughout the match, although they had a tough time putting the ball away against Louisville libero Halle Jimenez.
“That was a really good libero matchup,” said Royals coach Frankie Valdez. “(Jimenez) is one of those people that I trust, and she’s going to go out there and do great things. I like energy and I like intention. Halle has intention. There’s never a, ‘oh, I don’t know,’ there’s no hesitation.“
Notre Dame also had exceptional passing, highlighted by sophomore libero Anya Brach.
“(Brach’s) a stud and she’s another blessing we have with this roster,“ Dazé said. “We have so many cool kids that can do so many things, and she’s really took, took that to heart…Tonight (her passing was) pretty exceptional. It looks pretty impressive, but that’s what we see every day. So to us, it’s kind of pedestrian, but that’s what the greats do, they make things look easy.”
Adding to the strong defensive finish was Knights middle blocker Laura Camila Westrup, who had five blocks.
Sophomore Addison Wheeler led Louisville with 10 kills and Julina Frabotta and Zoe Kirovsky added seven kills each. Kirovsky led the Royals with three blocks.
Valdez said Louisville’s players should feel good about their season, knowing that they showed they can compete with top teams in the section.
“I just told the girls, that’s a great team,” Valdez said. “It’s a team that that has a lot of weapons. They all play for good clubs, and I believe we fought very well, and that’s what I wanted. Because right now it’s just another match before we start CIF.”
Both teams earned automatic spots in the CIF Southern Section playoffs, which start next week.
“We came into the season with high hopes, you know. I think we centered the entire schedule to prepare us to win league,” Dazé said. “I think continuing this and exposing them to a playoff environment is the next step. So from here on out, like playoff experience is huge, but it’s a process. It’s been year three. Next year is another process, and so on and so on. So we’re going to enjoy this league championship.”
Louisville is also confident heading into the playoffs, as Valdez knows no matter what division the team is placed in and who’s on the other side of the court, his team will just go out and play their game.
“But I’m one of those guys that I don’t really care what the brackets look like, because the brackets are the brackets, right? That’s such an uncontrollable for me,” Valdez said. “It’s all about us still. We’re going to be playing Louisville volleyball with whatever team they put in the other side. And we’ll see what happens.”
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