CIF Volleyball: Worst Nightmare Turns into Dream Come True
SHP advances to CIF state Division II final after surviving 5-set thriller at top seed Carlmont
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It’s 2012, the last time Sacred Heat Prep earned a shot at a state title in girls volleyball. The Gators lost, just like two years earlier.
Now that she’s a senior, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter once again brought her school to the brink of supremacy in California.
Desler’s match-high 25th kill ended a five-set thriller in the NorCal finals at top-seeded Carlmont on Saturday night, thereby sending No. 3 SHP into the CIF state Division II championship match this weekend at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
“I’m in shock, honestly,” said Desler, who collapsed on the court as teammates mobbed her. “I never thought that we would go to state. It always seemed like state was such far off, but we’re there, we can win it. It’s just an amazing feeling. After our last point, everything was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is all really happening.’ It all finally hit me. We’re going to state.”
It’s the ninth NorCal title in program history, with back-to-back Division V state trophies in 1995 and 1996 after finishing as the runner-up three straight times.
All of it might as well be a fable or fairy tale for the Gators (29-8).
That includes fourth-year coach Allison Magner, who previously didn’t make it past the NorCal semifinals.
Turns out Desler, along with her fellow seniors — setter Haley Martella, libero Caroline Caruso and defensive specialist Celia Charlton — shared a premonition.
“It was just to see the seniors say, Cate in particular, ‘Ali and Ali, we’re going to state championship this year’ — totally dead serious about it,” said Magner, accompanied on this ride by assistant coach Ali Taufoou. “And so to just watch that build throughout the course of the year and tell them to just be OK with the process, learn through our challenges, play for one another and at the end that’s going to pay off.
“It’s going to pay dividends and it’s going to happen in a very critical match when we’re playing a very respectable opponent. And it’s going to come down to will and grit and everything that we’ve put in throughout this season.”
Magner could just as well be referring to four days earlier as SHP stormed back in four sets to upset No. 2 Notre Dame-Belmont, a team it previously lost to three times, including in the Central Coast Section Division IV championship.
Carlmont (33-5), offered another challenge. The CCS Division I champion broke a program record for most wins and fewest losses set a year ago.
During a four-day span to open the season almost three months ago, SHP lost twice to Carlmont.
Turns out the Gators found an affinity to prevail when it matters most by converting a third NorCal championship point off a crosscourt kill by Desler for a 25-16, 25-20, 18-25, 14-25, 17-15 triumph.
“I love this team so much and when we put our minds to something, it happens,” Desler said. “It doesn’t matter who the other team is, how great they are, because Carlmont is an amazing team and Notre Dame-Belmont is an amazing team. Both teams we lost to previously in our season, so it was really like we came in with the mindset that we have nothing to lose in this case. And we all wanted it so bad, especially the seniors.
“Four years of hard work all came down to this one pinnacle moment. I can’t even describe what’s going on right now.”
The feeling was mutual.
“Oh my God, it’s a dream come true,” said Martella, who had 27 assists, with 12 kills for junior Ally Polverari, while sophomores Reagan Smith and Elena Radeff chipped in 11 and 10 kills, respectively. “We’ve been working so hard for this and I’ve honestly never been so happy in my entire life.”
“Unbelievable,” said Caruso, who led the Gators with 16 digs. “I think our team has worked for this every day at practice and we’ve all had the goal since the beginning of the season. And it’s just such a dream come true for all of us, for sure.”
It almost turned into a worst nightmare.
Nearly flawless at the outset, SHP seemed poised to make it a sweep in front of a raucous crowd. But Carlmont refused to back down after dropping back-to-back sets in its gym.
“It was definitely scary at one point, for sure,” Caruso said. “But I think we all knew we were going to finish at the end. It was a little road bump, but we got together and we worked so hard this whole season, we’re not letting this end like this.”
“We like to keep our fans on their seats,” Martella said. “But we always work hard and somehow manage to pull it out most times.”
“That was crazy,” Desler said. “The good thing was that we knew what was going wrong, we could fix it.”
SHP lost its ability to serve receive at the most inopportune time.
That allowed the Scots to force a decisive fifth set, with Carlmont seniors Maya McClellan (22 kills, 14 digs, 4 blocks) and Sophie Srivastava (47 assists, 17 digs, 4 aces 3 blocks) along with sophomore Morgan McClellan (10 kills, 7 aces, 5 digs) leading the charge.
“I just told the girls, ‘I can’t tell you anything that will make this hurt less, but in time hopefully we remember all the amazing things that we did a lot more than this one thing that we didn’t quite get,’ ” said Carlmont coach Chris Crader, whose team went 15-0 against teams that reached the CCS semifinals prior to the loss to SHP. “It’s been a phenomenal season by any measure.”
It took three championship points for SHP to put away Carlmont.
“You play 16 weeks, it’s 15-all in the fifth set and only one team is going to state,” Crader said. “It’s not fair to one team. And they made one more play than we did.”
“I think it’s a championship match — that’s what it is,” Magner said. “It’s two teams that have earned the right to be here. So for me it’s that perfect storm of two teams that wanted it very badly and at the end of day it comes down to a championship mindset. All the pressure is on, the fans are loud, but when you play for the person next to you, for their success, that’s when you’re going to win. And that was the shift for us.
“I couldn’t have scripted it any better. There’s no better way to win than that, because you earned every second of it.”
On the third championship point, Martella set it out wide to the seventh-grader who eventually turned into a senior version of Nostradamus, same as her coach.
“I knew it was over,” Magner said.
“Cate Desler is the greatest hitter I’ve actually ever set,” Martella said. “She manages to get every set over the net, no matter how off, how tight it is. So in a time of crisis, then she’ll be my go-to. I mean, she’s exceptional.”
It’s been 21 years since SHP won a state title in girls volleyball. Any more predictions?
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BELMONT —Hard to fathom Cate Desler ever imagined herself in this spot as a seventh-grader.
It’s 2012, the last time Sacred Heat Prep earned a shot at a state title in girls volleyball. The Gators lost, just like two years earlier.
Now that she’s a senior, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter once again brought her school to the brink of supremacy in California.
Desler’s match-high 25th kill ended a five-set thriller in the NorCal finals at top-seeded Carlmont on Saturday night, thereby sending No. 3 SHP into the CIF state Division II championship match this weekend at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
“I’m in shock, honestly,” said Desler, who collapsed on the court as teammates mobbed her. “I never thought that we would go to state. It always seemed like state was such far off, but we’re there, we can win it. It’s just an amazing feeling. After our last point, everything was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is all really happening.’ It all finally hit me. We’re going to state.”
It’s the ninth NorCal title in program history, with back-to-back Division V state trophies in 1995 and 1996 after finishing as the runner-up three straight times.
All of it might as well be a fable or fairy tale for the Gators (29-8).
That includes fourth-year coach Allison Magner, who previously didn’t make it past the NorCal semifinals.
Turns out Desler, along with her fellow seniors — setter Haley Martella, libero Caroline Caruso and defensive specialist Celia Charlton — shared a premonition.
“It was just to see the seniors say, Cate in particular, ‘Ali and Ali, we’re going to state championship this year’ — totally dead serious about it,” said Magner, accompanied on this ride by assistant coach Ali Taufoou. “And so to just watch that build throughout the course of the year and tell them to just be OK with the process, learn through our challenges, play for one another and at the end that’s going to pay off.
“It’s going to pay dividends and it’s going to happen in a very critical match when we’re playing a very respectable opponent. And it’s going to come down to will and grit and everything that we’ve put in throughout this season.”
Magner could just as well be referring to four days earlier as SHP stormed back in four sets to upset No. 2 Notre Dame-Belmont, a team it previously lost to three times, including in the Central Coast Section Division IV championship.
Carlmont (33-5), offered another challenge. The CCS Division I champion broke a program record for most wins and fewest losses set a year ago.
During a four-day span to open the season almost three months ago, SHP lost twice to Carlmont.
Turns out the Gators found an affinity to prevail when it matters most by converting a third NorCal championship point off a crosscourt kill by Desler for a 25-16, 25-20, 18-25, 14-25, 17-15 triumph.
“I love this team so much and when we put our minds to something, it happens,” Desler said. “It doesn’t matter who the other team is, how great they are, because Carlmont is an amazing team and Notre Dame-Belmont is an amazing team. Both teams we lost to previously in our season, so it was really like we came in with the mindset that we have nothing to lose in this case. And we all wanted it so bad, especially the seniors.
“Four years of hard work all came down to this one pinnacle moment. I can’t even describe what’s going on right now.”
The feeling was mutual.
“Oh my God, it’s a dream come true,” said Martella, who had 27 assists, with 12 kills for junior Ally Polverari, while sophomores Reagan Smith and Elena Radeff chipped in 11 and 10 kills, respectively. “We’ve been working so hard for this and I’ve honestly never been so happy in my entire life.”
“Unbelievable,” said Caruso, who led the Gators with 16 digs. “I think our team has worked for this every day at practice and we’ve all had the goal since the beginning of the season. And it’s just such a dream come true for all of us, for sure.”
It almost turned into a worst nightmare.
Nearly flawless at the outset, SHP seemed poised to make it a sweep in front of a raucous crowd. But Carlmont refused to back down after dropping back-to-back sets in its gym.
“It was definitely scary at one point, for sure,” Caruso said. “But I think we all knew we were going to finish at the end. It was a little road bump, but we got together and we worked so hard this whole season, we’re not letting this end like this.”
“We like to keep our fans on their seats,” Martella said. “But we always work hard and somehow manage to pull it out most times.”
“That was crazy,” Desler said. “The good thing was that we knew what was going wrong, we could fix it.”
SHP lost its ability to serve receive at the most inopportune time.
That allowed the Scots to force a decisive fifth set, with Carlmont seniors Maya McClellan (22 kills, 14 digs, 4 blocks) and Sophie Srivastava (47 assists, 17 digs, 4 aces 3 blocks) along with sophomore Morgan McClellan (10 kills, 7 aces, 5 digs) leading the charge.
“I just told the girls, ‘I can’t tell you anything that will make this hurt less, but in time hopefully we remember all the amazing things that we did a lot more than this one thing that we didn’t quite get,’ ” said Carlmont coach Chris Crader, whose team went 15-0 against teams that reached the CCS semifinals prior to the loss to SHP. “It’s been a phenomenal season by any measure.”
It took three championship points for SHP to put away Carlmont.
“You play 16 weeks, it’s 15-all in the fifth set and only one team is going to state,” Crader said. “It’s not fair to one team. And they made one more play than we did.”
“I think it’s a championship match — that’s what it is,” Magner said. “It’s two teams that have earned the right to be here. So for me it’s that perfect storm of two teams that wanted it very badly and at the end of day it comes down to a championship mindset. All the pressure is on, the fans are loud, but when you play for the person next to you, for their success, that’s when you’re going to win. And that was the shift for us.
“I couldn’t have scripted it any better. There’s no better way to win than that, because you earned every second of it.”
On the third championship point, Martella set it out wide to the seventh-grader who eventually turned into a senior version of Nostradamus, same as her coach.
“I knew it was over,” Magner said.
“Cate Desler is the greatest hitter I’ve actually ever set,” Martella said. “She manages to get every set over the net, no matter how off, how tight it is. So in a time of crisis, then she’ll be my go-to. I mean, she’s exceptional.”
It’s been 21 years since SHP won a state title in girls volleyball. Any more predictions?
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
