Sage Hill girls’ volleyball pulls out win at Woodbridge
IRVINE — Sage Hill got the test it craved, and at a most ideal moment.
An impressive, at times uneasy four-set triumph Thursday evening at Woodbridge put the Lightning in position for its first girls’ volleyball league championship in seven years — its first CIF Southern Section postseason berth since 2019 — with the means to make it happen.
Bella Giarla delivered 17 kills with just one error, Amber Wang did a lot of everything — topped by seven service aces — and the Lightning twice held off Woodbridge rallies for a 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22 victory that leaves it a game behind Portola halfway through the Pacific Hills League campaign.
Coming up Tuesday: Portola (15-7, 3-0 in the Pacific Hills League) and an opportunity to set things right after surrendering a two-set advantage in last week’s defeat in Newport Beach.
“This was a huge match for us, with playoff implications, and that’s the best I’ve seen them play,” Sage Hill coach Dan Thomassen said. “We needed to be our best, or close to it, and the girls played really smart, really hard, and dealt with those pressure moments.
“That was a good confidence boost. ... We haven’t had a ton of those pressure moments in meaningful matches this year, and we’re going to have more, so these guys know they can handle this situation.”
Sage Hill (11-4, 2-1) was even or a point behind through most of the first set, losing on a net violation, then quickly seized control as Wang served up four aces, three in succession, for a 6-0 lead in the second set. Woodbridge (10-16, 1-2) would hold a lead just once more, and for just one point, but it turned around sizable deficits at the close of the final two sets, using an 8-2 run to close within 24-22 in the third and an 8-1 tear to make it 20-19 in the fourth.
Giarla, a senior outside hitter headed to McNeese State to play beach volleyball, delivered the kill to clinch the third set, then provided two-point leads three times before Simona Yan’s lob completed the victory.
Wang was dominant, providing 42 assists, often from difficult circumstances — beneficiaries included freshmen Eve Fowler (14 kills, two blocks, one ace) and Addison Uphoff (11 kills, two blocks) — while repeatedly making critical defensive plays. She also contributed four kills.
“[It was] her best game of the season, and she’s always good for us,” Thomassen said of Wang.
Giarla called the Lightning’s energy and resilience “a big moment” ahead of the Portola clash. She hobbled through most of the first meeting after a first-set ankle injury, and the 6-foot-2 Fowler, pivotal in the middle, was reintegrating following a lengthy ankle injury.
“We’re all so eager to play them. We want that game,” Giarla said. “They took it away at our home court, we want to take it away at theirs. I feel like we’re coming out with so much fire, and the way we switched and turned it on after losing the first set today, as long as we have that during our Portola game, we should be able to take control.”
If it wins that one, Sage Hill gets a share of the title, maybe all of it, by beating University (1-6, 0-3), yet to win a league set, and then Woodbridge at home in the Oct. 15 final. That’s a good first step.
“I want this for me, I want this for our players, I want to show the freshmen we can do this,” said Giarla, who doesn’t plan to again play indoors. “Even when I’m gone, when the other seniors are gone, they can keep pushing every year, and I feel they can grow and get better. That’s a legacy I want to try to leave.”
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