Girls’ Volleyball: Sage Hill looks to stay hot

Sage Hill School and La Jolla have a recent common girls’ volleyball opponent in St. Margaret’s.

Sage Hill defeated St. Margaret’s in the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA final last week, while La Jolla beat St. Margaret’s in the opening round of the CIF State Southern California Regional Division III playoffs on Tuesday.

Sage Hill (24-3) plays host to La Jolla (25-11) on Saturday at 7 p.m., and the winner qualifies for the Southern California Regional Division III final. Sage Hill Coach Dan Thomassen said he doesn’t know much about La Jolla, a quarterfinalist from the CIF San Diego Section Open Division playoffs.

One thing Thomassen is certain about is that he won’t be calling St. Margaret’s Coach Susie Maga for a scouting report on La Jolla.

“I don’t want to put her in that position,” said Thomassen, whose team beat archrival St. Margaret’s three times this year, twice in Academy League play and once in the postseason.

“We’re just going to focus on our side of the net and continue to play at a high level.”

Thomassen has the Lightning one win away from reaching the Southern California Regional Division III final for the second time in as many years. The team’s success rate at home has been perfect this season and last season, going 25-0 during that stretch.

The last program to triumph at Sage Hill was St. Margaret’s on Oct. 19, 2012. Since that setback, Sage Hill has prevailed in 29 straight home matches.

The winning streak at home has a lot to do with three Lightning players, setter Maddy Abbott and outside hitters Kekai Whitford and Halland McKenna. The trio has taken Sage Hill to the Southern California Regional playoffs for the third time in four years. The only team to knock off the Lightning in this round was another team from La Jolla, La Jolla Country Day, in Division IV three years ago.

Abbott, Whitford and McKenna were freshmen back then. They’re seniors now, and Abbott is bound for Michigan, Whitford for Loyola Marymount and McKenna for Stanford. The three look to lead Sage Hill to its first state team title in the school’s history.

Thomassen gave the Lightning Wednesday and Thursday off. The team returns to practice on Friday, giving Sage Hill one day to prepare for La Jolla.

“The girls know this could be our last practice, so there’s a sense of urgency,” Thomassen said.

Last year, Sage Hill’s state run ended in Visalia, losing at top-seeded Central Valley Christian in the Southern California Regional Division III championship. The drive to the next Southern California Regional Division III final won’t involve a 450-mile roundtrip for the Lightning.

If Sage Hill knocks off La Jolla, it will meet the winner of San Diego Canyon Crest Academy and Saddleback Valley Christian in the Southern California Regional Division III final. Sage Hill, the No. 2 seed, could play host to the contest, if No. 5 Saddleback Valley Christian tops No. 1 Canyon Crest Academy. The higher seed earns the right to play at home, until Dec. 6, when all the state final matches are at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.

The state championship site isn’t too far from Sage Hill’s campus in Newport Coast. To get there, Sage Hill needs two wins.

In the way on Saturday is No. 3 La Jolla. Thomassen is aware of the two programs Sage Hill and La Jolla have squared off against this year, St. Margaret’s and Orange Lutheran. Sage Hill went 3-0 against St. Margaret’s, and it swept Orange Lutheran in pool-play action at the Dave Mohs Championships on Sept. 13.

Two weeks later, Orange Lutheran swept La Jolla at the Beach City Invitational, La Jolla’s tournament.

“But they swept [St. Margaret’s],” said Thomassen, whose team also owns a sweep against St. Margaret’s, coming in league on Sept. 26.