Boys’ Volleyball: Sage Hill falls at St. Margaret’s

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — This early in the high school boys’ volleyball season, two weeks in, Sage Hill School is normally playing a nonleague schedule.

A little more was on the line in the sixth match for the Lightning.

The Academy League opener for the Lightning took place on Thursday, at archrival St. Margaret’s. Sage Hill Coach Setiam Allah said the schools moved up the contest because of a scheduling conflict.

“It was supposed to be [on March 18],” Allah said.

Sooner or later, Allah’s Lightning would meet the Tartans. Sage Hill suffered the same fate most teams in league have for the last three years when facing the Tartans.

Sage Hill became the 27th straight league opponent the Tartans have downed. St. Margaret’s defeated the Lightning, 25-16, 23-25, 25-18, 25-15.

The last team in league to beat St. Margaret’s was the Lightning, coming at St. Margaret’s on April 26, 2013. Sage Hill, which has dropped each of its six matches, has a lot of work ahead of itself if it plans to knock off the Tartans again.

“I think it just came down to consistency,” Allah said of the latest setback. “We’ve had a lot of injuries and we’ve only had two weeks of practices. For us, that was a really good match. As long as we can be more consistent like we were in that second [set], it will hopefully be a different outcome the next time we see [the Tartans at Sage Hill on April 19].”

The Tartans (3-1, 2-0 in league) are the favorites to claim their fourth consecutive league title. They have bigger plans than league, returning to the CIF Southern Section Division 4 finals for a second time in a row and this time winning the crown.

St. Margaret’s is ranked No. 2 in the Division 4 poll, behind Saddleback Valley Christian. Saddleback Valley Christian is the program that denied the Tartans from bringing home their third section championship in the sport.

Saddleback Valley Christian has been on a dominant roll, winning the last three section titles, the first two in Division 5. St. Margaret’s and Saddleback Valley Christian expect to meet again in late May.

“We’ve got potential,” said St. Margaret’s Coach Jeremy Dailey, who only brings back two starters from a year ago, “but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Sage Hill is looking to get back to the postseason and win a round, something it hasn’t done under Allah.

This is Allah’s third season at the helm of the Lightning and he said he likes his team, even though he lost his top player, middle blocker Zachary Drobenko, from a year ago to graduation, and his second best player, sophomore outside hitter Logan Senn, is out for the season with a shoulder injury.

“We definitely have the guys,” said Allah, whose team finished 14-14 overall and in third place in league at 8-4 last year.

Allah’s team showed signs it can play with St. Margaret’s in spurts.

The Lightning took a 10-7 lead in the opening set, on Shane Larimer’s service ace. Then the Tartans went on an 11-1 run, sparked by strong serving by Matt Hamadani and Paul Boranian. The two produced two aces apiece, while David Chou pounded a couple of kills.

Chou, a 6-foot-2 sophomore outside hitter, led St. Margaret’s with 20 kills. Chou and Jordan Chun, a setter who amassed 40 assists, are the Tartans’ two returning starters.

Game 2 went to the Lightning. Juniors Ryan Shean, Albert Son (11 kills) and Parker Warden (nine kills) kept St. Margaret’s from running away with the set.

After a Son kill cut the deficit to 18-14, Sage Hill ran off three straight points, one on an ace by Larimer, to make it one-point set. The Tartans went back up by three, but a couple of violations and a kill by Warden allowed the Lightning to catch St. Margaret’s at 23-23.

The visitors didn’t stop there. Sage Hill closed out Game 2 on a 5-0 run. Warden and Son finished things with kills.

That would be the only set the Lightning won, as St. Margaret’s avoided a five-set match in league for the fifth straight time. Crean Lutheran went the distance with the Tartans last year.

“Crean Lutheran’s going to be a strong team,” Dailey said of last year’s second-place team in league. “[League has started] earlier than it used to. We added [Downey Calvary Chapel] to our league … two years ago and that pushed up our league schedule.

“I would rather wait [to play league]. In scheduling nonleague, it just gives you more options as a coach.”