Girls’ Volleyball: Abbott awesome for Sage Hill
Calling Maddy Abbott a setter for the Sage Hill School girls’ volleyball team, while accurate, is also vastly underselling what she means to the Lightning.
She’s a four-year starter and two-year team captain in the most successful athletic program at the school, one that has captured four CIF titles.
She’s an effective blocker, has gotten more dangerous with her “dump” kills and, with the program career record for aces, also excels in serving.
She’s someone who works to perfect her craft, also getting more effective on defense this year.
What other words can be used to describe Abbott? Sage Hill Coach Dan Thomassen has some.
“Maddy’s just a rock of stability,” Thomassen said. “Volleyball’s an emotional game, and when your teammates and friends and the coaches can lean on someone that’s so reliable, it pays off in points, it pays off in wins. I can’t even think, in four years, of a truly bad match that she’s had. She’s just very even keel. Steady doesn’t always make the highlight reel, but it’s what wins matches and makes for great seasons.”
The Lightning (24-3) are no doubt in the midst of one of those. They have a 19-match winning streak heading into Saturday night’s CIF State Southern California Regional Division III semifinal match at home against La Jolla.
Abbott, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, is in the middle of it all with fellow senior co-captains Kekai Whitford and Halland McKenna. With her sets, Abbott sets up the two outside hitters for kills. But more than that, they have a special bond. Abbott and Whitford have played club volleyball together the last two years for Prime Volleyball Club. Abbott and McKenna have been extremely close friends for most of their lives.
The relationship is more personal than anything. Whitford and McKenna committed to play in college last year, to Loyola Marymount and Stanford, respectively. Abbott wasn’t sure if she would get that chance, but she said her co-captains constantly encouraged her and told her to go for it. Now, she’s going to play for University of Michigan.
“I would consider them more like my sisters now,” Abbott said. “We all know how important volleyball is to us, especially with Sage volleyball, and how much it’s impacted all of our lives these last four years. It’s pretty cool to have such a united thing between a group of people. Yeah, they’re really special to me ... They both have a pretty special place in my heart.”
Outside hitters naturally receive more attention than setters, but all three have been irreplaceable in the success of the Lightning. They accomplished the nearly unthinkable at the small private school with less than 500 students, making four CIF finals in four years and winning three. The latest was a four-set win over league rival St. Margaret’s last weekend for the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA title.
As she always seems to, Abbott had a stellar match, with 53 assists, 10 digs and four service aces. The digs have been up this year. Abbott credits Sage assistant coach Megan Munce, who played setter at Newport Harbor High and TCU, for getting on her about her defense.
Now, the focus is on state. Win on Saturday, and Sage is in the Southern California Division III title match for the second straight year. Two more wins after that, and Sage has its first state title in program history.
“We’re going to do our best,” Abbott said. “We know that this is kind of like the icing on the cake. It’s not going to define our season. It’s not going to define our senior year and the success we’ve had, but we’re looking to take it as far as we can. We love playing with each other, and we just want to play as many possible [matches] as we can. The maximum is three now, so we’re looking to squeeze as much as we can out of this season.”
Abbott has squeezed a lot out of her high school experience. She has been the sports editor for the Lightning school newspaper, “The Bolt,” for the last two years. And she is a member of the Sage Hill student ambassadors and honor committee programs.
Family is also important to Abbott. Her father, Jim, pitched for Michigan and went on to a 10-year career in Major League Baseball, despite being born without a right hand.
Maddy and her family have always had a special bond with Michigan, as her grandparents and a lot of other family members live back there.
“I’ve honestly been rooting for Michigan as long as I can remember,” Maddy Abbott said. “It’s always been ‘Go Blue’ at my house. It’s a really special thing that I share with my dad, just my parents, my grandparents. I always knew I would apply and that I’d love to go to Michigan, but I didn’t know exactly what my chances were at playing volleyball. I ended up having a chance to go and have a spot on the team, which was surreal, honestly. I could not be more excited. It’s my dream school, and just a really special bound that I share with my dad, especially.”
On the volleyball court this year, Sage Hill has some young pieces. Thomassen said Abbott has done a good job of mixing up her sets, not just to McKenna and Whitford but players like freshman opposite Jade Blevins and middle blockers Jamie Dailey and Sophia Mossman, who are a sophomore and junior respectively.
“She makes adjustments really quickly,” Thomassen said of Abbott, comparing her to the quarterback of a football team.
This special year has had Sage Hill sweep Mater Dei, take fifth at the Dave Mohs tournament and emerge as a top-five team in Orange County as ranked by the Register.
A state title would be a perfect cap. If the Lightning get there, it will be because of Abbott’s steady presence in all areas.
“This is the first team we’ve had where we feel toe-to-toe against any team in Orange County,” Thomassen said. “It’s a brawl, and any team is going to win. We know there’s really good teams out there, but this team’s confidence is pretty high. A lot of that comes from Maddy, that kind of quiet confidence.”
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Maddy Abbott
Born: Dec. 15, 1996
Hometown: Corona del Mar
Height: 5-foot-10
Sport: Volleyball
Year: Senior
Coach: Dan Thomassen
Favorite food: Popcorn
Favorite movie: “Sixteen Candles”
Favorite athletic moment: Helping Sage Hill win three CIF titles in four years.
Week in review: Abbott had a combined 95 assists, 27 digs and 10 service aces as Sage Hill beat Elsinore and rival St. Margaret’s to capture the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA title.
