Nor Cal Champs
SHP into state finals with wild five-set win over Carlmont
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From the outset of the season, Sacred Heart Prep’s senior team captain was on a mission for the 2017 Gators to leave their mark. The last time the volleyball program won any kind of championship was in 2012 — as West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division co-champions, as well as Central Coast Section Division IV champs — but that was two years before Desler arrived at SHP.
“At the beginning of the year, Cate walked up to me before our first preseason game and told me we were going to win a championship,” SHP head coach Ali Magner said.
As the year progressed, Desler’s dream seemed to be slipping away. The Gators settled for third place in the WBAL Foothill and finished the CCS Division IV playoffs as runners-up.
Then in storming to the CIF Northern California Division II finals as the No. 3 seed Saturday at top-seed Carlmont, SHP’s early two-set lead slipped away as the Scots rallied back to force a Game 5.
Even SHP’s early 4-0 lead in the decisive final set went by the wayside as Carlmont roared back to tie it, eventually forcing extra points. But then, following a kill by SHP junior middle Alexa Bartlett to force their third championship point of the set, the Gators persevered a grueling rally to get in system with senior setter Haley Martella placing a rainbow to the left side for her superstar outside hitter.
With her fiercest swing of the night, Desler fired a cross-shot that slammed to the floor at Stogner Gymnasium to close a 25-16, 25-20, 18-25, 14-25, 17-15 SHP victory. With it, the usually mild-mannered Desler — always an energetic team leader on the court, but otherwise reserve — fell to the court and immediately erupted in a show of tears, having given the Gators (29-8 overall) the program’s first Northern California championship since 2012.
“It’s just four years of hard work to get this one shot,” Desler said. “Every year our goal is to get our number on the wall … and finally we’ve got first place in something.”
The CCS kills queen according to MaxPreps.com, Desler finished the night with a team-high 19 kills, though these weren’t a product of wire- to-wire dominance. The senior totaled a majority of those kills in the opening two sets, with six in Game 1 and seven more in Game 2.
She tallied just six more through the final three sets, with Carlmont effectively limiting her swings with precision serves and consistently keeping the Gators out of system.
“Their serving really took us out of the game,” Desler said. “They’re a great serving team … and I think in the third and fourth set, it kind of got into a heads a little bit.”
Carlmont (33-5) was the No. 1 seed for a reason. The Scots’ 33 wins this season set a new program record while they captured the CCS Division I crown along the way.
“We’ve always served tough,” Carlmont head coach Chris Crader said. “We served them into some trouble then were able to dig some balls and get some kills. We’ve got some fight. You don’t win 30-something matches without having some fight.”
SHP got some clutch front-row defense through the opening two sets as well. Bartlett totaled six match blocks, five coming through games 1 and 2.
But Carlmont’s McClellan sisters got stronger as the match wore on.
Sophomore outside hitter Morgan McClellan got cooking to start Game 2, leading off with three straight aces. The Scots opened a 7-3 lead but SHP fired back. Bartlett recorded back-to-back blocks to swing the Gators to a 14-13 lead amid a 7-1 run. Carlmont later tied it 20-20 on an ace by sophomore Alisha Mitha. But Desler responded, scorching a left-side kill followed by a block to spark a 5-0 run to close out the set.
Carlmont senior Maya McClellan started gathering steam toward scoring a match-high 20 kills though. She executed four kills, two blocks and an ace in Carlmont’s runaway win in Game 3. Then in Game 4 she opened strong by executing several coffin-corner kills in another dominant set for the Scots.
“Honestly, I think it was more of a confidence thing,” Morgan McClellan said of Carlmont’s turnaround, citing the emotional leadership of her older sister. “Maya starting screaming and it just kind of woke us up.”
SHP, though, woke up in Game 5. The Gators opened on a 4-0 run, thanks to three Carlmont hitting errors. The Scots committed 38 unforced errors in the match, including 10 in the final set. There was a dispute, when Morgan McClellan was ruled to have fired wide to make it 4-0, that the attempt was touched by a SHP defender, but the Scots argued to no avail.
Out of a timeout, though, Carlmont went on a 5-1 run, including three kills by Maya McClellan and a block by junior Elizabeth Prozell to tie it. It was the first of six ties, including at 15-15.
“It came down to who wanted it more,” Martella said. “And we just looked at each other and said: ‘We’re not going home.’”
The final championship point was forced by a scrappy SHP rally with Bartlett sending an off-balance attempt that found some backcourt real estate.
“It doesn’t truly come down to technique at that point,” Magner said. “It’s a mindset. It’s a championship mindset.”
Then, with Martella at the service line, SHP put it away on Desler’s soaring left-side pearl.
“That was incredible,” Bartlett said. “I saw the set going to her and I was like: ‘She’s going to smash it.’ And she did. And we’re just so excited.”
Having Desler in the front row on that rotation was a product of Magner switching up her lineup for Game 5. Desler started the previous four sets at right back, but moved two rotations closer to the front row at left back to start the final set.
“That was probably the difference of her being in the front row at 15 all,” Crader said.
The battle for the Nor Cal Division II title was befitting of the last high school match on Northern California soil this season, a battle that extended to the fans of both teams packing Stogner Gym for one of the most raucous scenes ever to rock the Carlmont facility.
And, when it was done, it seemed unfair either team had to lose.
“We were hoping to be the team it was fair to instead of unfair to,” Crader said. “But they made one more play than we did.”
SHP now advances to this Saturday’s CIF Division II State Championship match at Santiago Canyon College in Orange. The Gators will take on the No. 1 seed from Southern California in Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth.
And as the Gators showed against Carlmont, they are fully capable of taking down a No. 1 see.
“That is complete emotion overcoming,” Magner said. “And even when everyone else doubted you, you’re able to overcome with a group of people you love.”
Back
It was a swing Cate Desler was destined to take.
From the outset of the season, Sacred Heart Prep’s senior team captain was on a mission for the 2017 Gators to leave their mark. The last time the volleyball program won any kind of championship was in 2012 — as West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division co-champions, as well as Central Coast Section Division IV champs — but that was two years before Desler arrived at SHP.
“At the beginning of the year, Cate walked up to me before our first preseason game and told me we were going to win a championship,” SHP head coach Ali Magner said.
As the year progressed, Desler’s dream seemed to be slipping away. The Gators settled for third place in the WBAL Foothill and finished the CCS Division IV playoffs as runners-up.
Then in storming to the CIF Northern California Division II finals as the No. 3 seed Saturday at top-seed Carlmont, SHP’s early two-set lead slipped away as the Scots rallied back to force a Game 5.
Even SHP’s early 4-0 lead in the decisive final set went by the wayside as Carlmont roared back to tie it, eventually forcing extra points. But then, following a kill by SHP junior middle Alexa Bartlett to force their third championship point of the set, the Gators persevered a grueling rally to get in system with senior setter Haley Martella placing a rainbow to the left side for her superstar outside hitter.
With her fiercest swing of the night, Desler fired a cross-shot that slammed to the floor at Stogner Gymnasium to close a 25-16, 25-20, 18-25, 14-25, 17-15 SHP victory. With it, the usually mild-mannered Desler — always an energetic team leader on the court, but otherwise reserve — fell to the court and immediately erupted in a show of tears, having given the Gators (29-8 overall) the program’s first Northern California championship since 2012.
“It’s just four years of hard work to get this one shot,” Desler said. “Every year our goal is to get our number on the wall … and finally we’ve got first place in something.”
The CCS kills queen according to MaxPreps.com, Desler finished the night with a team-high 19 kills, though these weren’t a product of wire- to-wire dominance. The senior totaled a majority of those kills in the opening two sets, with six in Game 1 and seven more in Game 2.
She tallied just six more through the final three sets, with Carlmont effectively limiting her swings with precision serves and consistently keeping the Gators out of system.
“Their serving really took us out of the game,” Desler said. “They’re a great serving team … and I think in the third and fourth set, it kind of got into a heads a little bit.”
Carlmont (33-5) was the No. 1 seed for a reason. The Scots’ 33 wins this season set a new program record while they captured the CCS Division I crown along the way.
“We’ve always served tough,” Carlmont head coach Chris Crader said. “We served them into some trouble then were able to dig some balls and get some kills. We’ve got some fight. You don’t win 30-something matches without having some fight.”
SHP got some clutch front-row defense through the opening two sets as well. Bartlett totaled six match blocks, five coming through games 1 and 2.
But Carlmont’s McClellan sisters got stronger as the match wore on.
Sophomore outside hitter Morgan McClellan got cooking to start Game 2, leading off with three straight aces. The Scots opened a 7-3 lead but SHP fired back. Bartlett recorded back-to-back blocks to swing the Gators to a 14-13 lead amid a 7-1 run. Carlmont later tied it 20-20 on an ace by sophomore Alisha Mitha. But Desler responded, scorching a left-side kill followed by a block to spark a 5-0 run to close out the set.
Carlmont senior Maya McClellan started gathering steam toward scoring a match-high 20 kills though. She executed four kills, two blocks and an ace in Carlmont’s runaway win in Game 3. Then in Game 4 she opened strong by executing several coffin-corner kills in another dominant set for the Scots.
“Honestly, I think it was more of a confidence thing,” Morgan McClellan said of Carlmont’s turnaround, citing the emotional leadership of her older sister. “Maya starting screaming and it just kind of woke us up.”
SHP, though, woke up in Game 5. The Gators opened on a 4-0 run, thanks to three Carlmont hitting errors. The Scots committed 38 unforced errors in the match, including 10 in the final set. There was a dispute, when Morgan McClellan was ruled to have fired wide to make it 4-0, that the attempt was touched by a SHP defender, but the Scots argued to no avail.
Out of a timeout, though, Carlmont went on a 5-1 run, including three kills by Maya McClellan and a block by junior Elizabeth Prozell to tie it. It was the first of six ties, including at 15-15.
“It came down to who wanted it more,” Martella said. “And we just looked at each other and said: ‘We’re not going home.’”
The final championship point was forced by a scrappy SHP rally with Bartlett sending an off-balance attempt that found some backcourt real estate.
“It doesn’t truly come down to technique at that point,” Magner said. “It’s a mindset. It’s a championship mindset.”
Then, with Martella at the service line, SHP put it away on Desler’s soaring left-side pearl.
“That was incredible,” Bartlett said. “I saw the set going to her and I was like: ‘She’s going to smash it.’ And she did. And we’re just so excited.”
Having Desler in the front row on that rotation was a product of Magner switching up her lineup for Game 5. Desler started the previous four sets at right back, but moved two rotations closer to the front row at left back to start the final set.
“That was probably the difference of her being in the front row at 15 all,” Crader said.
The battle for the Nor Cal Division II title was befitting of the last high school match on Northern California soil this season, a battle that extended to the fans of both teams packing Stogner Gym for one of the most raucous scenes ever to rock the Carlmont facility.
And, when it was done, it seemed unfair either team had to lose.
“We were hoping to be the team it was fair to instead of unfair to,” Crader said. “But they made one more play than we did.”
SHP now advances to this Saturday’s CIF Division II State Championship match at Santiago Canyon College in Orange. The Gators will take on the No. 1 seed from Southern California in Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth.
And as the Gators showed against Carlmont, they are fully capable of taking down a No. 1 see.
“That is complete emotion overcoming,” Magner said. “And even when everyone else doubted you, you’re able to overcome with a group of people you love.”
Sacred Heart Schools Atherton
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12
