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Girls’ Volleyball: Sage opens with sweep

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Coach Dan Thomassen said he’s giving his Sage Hill School girls’ volleyball team Wednesday and Thursday off this week. His players earned time off to rest and enjoy Thanksgiving.

Sage Hill kept its season alive, sweeping Tujunga Verdugo Hills, 25-10, 25-8, 25-10, in the opening round of the CIF State Southern California Regional Division III playoffs on Tuesday.

After the match, Thomassen was already looking forward to the next round. Sage Hill was playing either La Jolla or St. Margaret’s.

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Sage Hill has seen St. Margaret’s three times already. The schools have played for an Academy League title and a CIF Southern Section Division 3AA title.

The archrivals won’t meet again this year. La Jolla defeated St. Margaret’s, 25-19, 25-15, 25-19, setting up a showdown between the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the Southern California Regional Division III playoffs. Sage Hill (24-3), the higher seed, plays host to La Jolla (25-11) on Saturday at 7 p.m.

“We know La Jolla is as good as any team we’ve played this year,” said Thomassen of a program that reached the quarterfinals of the CIF San Diego Section Open Division playoffs. “They’re athletic. We know we’re good at home, but we’re going to have to be better than we were tonight. It’s going to be a great atmosphere here on Saturday. We’re going to be ready.”

Three days after beating St. Margaret’s for the section crown in four sets, Sage Hill needed only three sets to get past its next opponent in the postseason. The match lasted an hour, before Sage Hill sent Verdugo Hills (22-9-2), the CIF Los Angeles City Section Division III champion, home.

Sage Hill improved to 12-0 at home this season. Sage Hill got off to a hot start, allowing Thomassen to go to his bench early.

The usual standouts produced in Game 1, Maddy Abbott and Kekai Whitford each had a service ace, while Halland McKenna had three service winners. Isabel Shapiro closed out the set, recording three aces in a row.

Eleven aces are how many Sage Hill collected in Game 1. Game 2 looked a lot like the first one.

Verdugo Hills did take its first lead after a service error by Sage Hill to open the second set. Sage Hill began to strike the ball over the net for winners, Whitford coming up with three aces, and Lina Aluzri dropped in three, giving Sage Hill a 12-3 lead.

Sage Hill finished with 21 aces on the night. Whitford turned in the most with eight. The team’s kill leaders were Sophia Mossman and Whitford, who had five each. McKenna and Jade Blevins had four kills apiece. Shapiro added three kills. Abbott recorded 23 assists and two kills.

“We knew we were probably at least a little bit more experienced [than Verdugo Hills],” Thomassen said. “Our girls are pretty seasoned. They control the ball well, and they have been playing at a high level all year.”

Thomassen has the Lightning one win away from advancing to the Southern California Regional Division III final for the second straight year. He isn’t concerned about what his players will do with no practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

“They will stay active,” Thomassen said. “They know how important this is. I don’t even have to really tell them anything.

“Beating a team like La Jolla will be a signature win for us.”

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