Sage Hill inching toward playoffs

NEWPORT BEACH ? Sage Hill School boys’ volleyball coach Merja Connolly-Freund was not ecstatic about the way her team played in its first match after a weeklong break.

Sage Hill looked rusty, but it had enough bursts of cohesiveness to take down Whitney, 25-13, 25-16, 19-25, 25-18, in an Academy League match on Tuesday night.

“In game one, we passed well and did a good job running it through the middle, then things went downhill,” Connolly-Freund said. “We had an off-week last week for spring break and we only had one day to practice before the match. We didn’t look great.”

The Lightning (2-5, 2-1 in league) may not have looked superb, but they were good enough against a struggling Whitney squad that tallied about twice as many unforced errors.

Sage Hill was stronger at the net with middle blockers Shane Webster and Michael Morgan, who along with freshman outside hitter Bayle Smith had six kills apiece.

The Lightning, not sharp enough to get the sweep, stumbled in game three and fell behind, 4-2, in game four. But a kill by Webster and a well-placed tip by senior Jake Lazere helped give Sage Hill a 5-4 lead. The Lightning trailed one more time, at 6-5, before going on an 11-3 run to take a 16-9 lead, which they would never relinquish. Most of Sage Hill’s points during the run came by way of unforced errors.

Kills by Smith and Morgan helped hold off the Wildcats down the stretch before Morgan delivered the game-winning swing. Smith and Morgan each had four kills in the fourth game.

“Smith has been our best overall player,” Connolly-Freund said. “But for the most part our offense has been spread out. He does a great job as a freshman.”

Sage Hill won despite missing one of its key players, sophomore outside hitter Jamie McGee, who was out sick. The Lightning hope to have him back for Thursday’s match against Brethren Christian, one of the teams contending for the Academy League title.

By winning Tuesday’s match, Sage Hill keeps itself in the thick of the league playoff race. Connolly-Freund said she expects to see a sharper Sage Hill unit down the stretch.

“When the team is at 100% again, I think that will help our concentration in practice and games,” she said. “I’m very confident we’re on the playoff track. I think we can finish in the top two and go to the playoffs. But tonight was a so-so match coming off the break.”

The Lightning were never seriously threatened in the first game. Will Fletcher and Lazere delivered aces and Webster paced the Lightning with three game-one kills.

Sage Hill fell behind, 3-0, and was tied at 9-9 in game two before going on a 16-7 run to close out the game.

Whitney turned things up a notch in the third game by making less errors and improving its passing game. The score was tied, 4-4, before the Wildcats went on a 7-0 spurt to take a lead it would never surrender.

Connolly-Freund said she is eager for the team to log some quality practice time before it takes on Brethren Christian.

“In the rest of this week’s practices, we’ll focus on footwork and ball control,” she said.dpt-volley05.IMGGraphicInfoOM1PL1RM20060405OM1PL1RMNo Captiondpt.05-vb-shvwhit-1-CPhotoInfoAS1PL1P520060405ix89c4knKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Sage Hill’s Mike Morgan, right, blocks the shot of Whitney’s Charles Kim during Tuesday’s match.