Southern Section Girls’ 3-A Volleyball Championships : Hatchett Dominates as Sunny Hills Wins

Marissa Hatchett had 24 kills, 12 blocks and 1 service ace to lead top-seeded Sunny Hills High School to a 15-8, 15-5, 15-12 victory over El Modena in the Southern Section 3-A girls’ volleyball finals Saturday at Marina High.

Hatchett, a 6-foot 1-inch senior middle blocker, had 9 of her kills in the third game as the Lancers (19-2) fought off a strong El Modena (20-5) challenge to win the game and championship--Sunny Hills’ first in the sport.

“El Modena pretty much kept the ball on the court and got our defense moving,” said Sunny Hills coach Ron Kasser, whose team advanced to the state championship tournament, which starts this week. “We didn’t pass well and we got a little tentative in the third game, but we came through with the big points when we needed them.

“We just didn’t let a few things bother us and just did what we planned to do and we won.”

Unseeded El Modena, which upset second-seeded Los Altos and third-seeded La Habra to advance to Saturday’s final, never led in the first game. The Vanguards closed to within 6-4, thanks to Hatchett’s errant spike and a stuff block by Mindy Boyer, but Sunny Hills responded with 6 consecutive points to take a 12-4 lead.

The Vanguards got as close as 13-8 in the first game, but Hatchett closed out the game by scoring the last 2 points on spike kills.

El Modena took a 2-0 lead in the second game on Jennifer Fregosi’s spike and a service ace by Tonya Troutman, but Sunny Hills tied the score with a kill and a stuff block by Hatchett. The Vanguards regained the lead, 3-2, on a kill by Jeanette Reed, but that was to be the last time El Modena would lead in the game. The Lancers scored 5 unanswered points to take a 7-3 lead.

The Vanguards got as close as 7-4 in the second game, but Sunny Hills responded by outscoring El Modena, 8-1, to close out the game.

Sunny Hills, which opened up a 4-2 lead to start the third game before El Modena rallied to tie the score, expanded its advantage to 9-5, thanks to seven kills by Hatchett and service aces by Helena Chung and Keisha Dean.

After the teams exchanged points, the Vanguards tied the score on two service aces by Tera Coleman, a kill by Marni Hichborn and a net violation against the Lancers.

After El Modena took an 11-10 lead with a scoring spike by Reed, Hatchett forced a sideout with a stuff block and then tied the score with a kill.

The Vanguards narrowed the margin to 13-12 before Sunny Hills closed out the match with a service ace by Dean and Fregosi’s spike into the net.