PREP VOLLEYBALL / SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : Laguna Beach Spikes Mater Dei And then there were none.

The third-seeded Mater Dei girls’ volleyball team twice squandered four-point leads before losing to Laguna Beach, 15-9, 15-13, 17-15, in the semifinals of the Southern Section Division I tournament Tuesday at Mater Dei. The Monarchs were the fourth seeded team to be eliminated in Division I.

Laguna Beach will play Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in the final Saturday. Top-seeded Huntington Beach, second-seeded Dana Hills and fourth-seeded San Clemente lost Saturday in the quarterfinals.

Mater Dei Coach Pete West said home-court advantage and two early-season victories over Laguna Beach might have given the Monarchs inflated confidence.

“It’s almost like everything was going our way. . . and it concerned me because it was almost like we expected to win without having to go out and earn it,” he said.

After breezing through the first game, the Artists fell behind, 13-9, in the second before scoring six consecutive points to win.

Laguna Beach (15-2) jumped to an 8-4 lead in the third game before Mater Dei star Roberta Gehlke had seven kills and a block to lead Mater Dei on a 10-1 run and bring up game point for the Monarchs.

But a dig by the Artists’ Jillian Longnecker surprised the Monarchs and gave Laguna Beach a sideout. Leslie Christen served an ace to swing the momentum toward Laguna Beach. After a Mater Dei hitting error gave the Artists another point, reserve middle blocker Perrin Stitick assisted on three blocks to tie the score, 14-14.

Ashley Englander had a kill to bring up match point for Laguna Beach, but Gehlke answered with another kill for a sideout and Mater Dei’s Lauren Warner blocked Stitick to tie the score, 15-15.

Stitick helped Erika Hansen on another block and Carrie Zeller sent a kill cross court for the victory.

“It’s like a dream,” Laguna Beach Coach Bill Christiansen said.

Zeller led Laguna Beach with 13 kills, Gehlke had 25 kills for Mater Dei (20-3).

In another Division I match:

Manhattan Beach Mira Costa 3, Newport Harbor 1--Rochelle Esparza had 19 kills for Mira Costa (19-3), which won, 15-6, 15-12, 14-16, 15-11. Melissa Snow had 17 kills for Newport Harbor (13-6).

In Division II:

Torrance Bishop Montgomery 3, La Habra 0--Barbie Wiborg had 12 kills for La Habra (14-3), which lost the quarterfinal match, 15-7, 15-11, 15-7.

In Division III:

Redlands 3, Kennedy 1--Top-seeded Redlands (16-0) advanced to the semifinals with a 15-11, 15-8, 15-17, 15-3 victory. Claire Lee had 12 kills for Kennedy (14-5).

In Division IV:

Brawley 3, Calvary Chapel 2--Unseeded Brawley upset the top-seeded Eagles (14-3), 5-15, 15-13, 7-15, 15-11, 15-8.

Ocean View 3, Hemet 1--Katie Lindquist had 15 kills for the Seahawks (16-1), who won, 9-15, 15-10, 15-5, 15-12.

In Division V:

St. Margaret’s 3, Pasadena Mayfield 2--Stefanie Canright had 15 kills for St. Margaret’s (17-3), which rallied to beat fourth-seeded Mayfield, 15-17, 15-13, 10-15, 17-15, 15-10. St. Margaret’s plays top-seeded Los Angeles Brentwood in the semifinals.