CHULA VISTA – University City’s girls volleyball team finished with a three-match losing streak to finish the regular season.
With the team limping into the playoffs, head coach Aaron Hartin wasn’t sure if it would go home after the first round or finish the season on top.
The Centurions went home alright. But they waited until Friday night as CIF champions.
UC relied on the heavy arms of its outside hitter tandem of Logan Whittle and Danielle Muttera – who combined for 21 kills – and was lights out from the service line with 17 team aces in beating La Jolla Country Day, 25-20, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19, in the Division 2 title match played at Southwestern College.
“We serve a lot of aces,” said coach Aaron Hartin, a UC alumnus from the class of 1990. “We also miss a lot. We serve a lot in practice. I’m one of those coaches who feels the game is won with serving and passing so we practice accordingly.”
The Centurions (24-8) will advance to the CIF State Championship tournament next week.
UC won at the service line with setter Reagan Rowe leading the way with four aces. Muttera, libero Amanda Guzman and Gabriella Conway each had three aces, and Ellasyn Scuba added two.
“We know that serving is going to make or break a lot of games,” said Muttera, who finished with a match-high 14 kills. “It’s important that we know that even with mistakes, everybody makes them. It’s not the end of the world. We just push and move on to the next play.”
The Torreys (28-9) battled back to force a fourth set, but the Torreys pressure at the service line and net was too much to handle.
“We definitely made a lot of errors, but they’re a great serving team,” LJCD coach Tina Kinkead said. “As a whole we kept fighting. Our goal was to win the match, but knowing what we did all year, the girls have improved and have come into the gym ready to go every day. For us to do what we’ve done this year is amazing.”
Freshman Tatum Epstein led the way for the Torreys with 13 kills. Sophomore Ellis Meiselman added nine kills.
In the first set, the Centurions came out with some nerves, notching three errors on the match’s first four plays. But they settled down quickly. Down 6-2, UC went on a well-balanced 9-2 run. They got points from five different plays in the run. The Centurions would give up more than one consecutive point just twice more the rest of the set as Muttera, Whittle and Lewis-Mussa each had three kills.
The situation flipped in set two. UC jumped out to 5-1 and 8-2 leads, poised to take control of the match. But the Torreys put together their own long run of 12-3 to take a 14-11 lead. Down 16-14, UC scored 11 of the set’s final 17 points. The culminating play was Muttera’s hammer on the outside in transition for the 25-22 win. The Centurions served up seven aces in the set.
UC jumped out to a commanding 8-1 lead in set three. It had three aces in the early run with Rowe delivering all of them. But the Torreys weren’t done, fighting back to tie it at 11. A pair of Gabriella Conway aces gave UC an 18-16 lead but Alice Burgett had a stuff block, then Tatum Epstein had a kill and stuff block on consecutive plays for a 19-18 lead. Burgett’s ace and Epstein’s kill in transition finished the set and kept the Torreys alive.
Sensing the mood, both sides got aggressive in set four. But the Torreys firepower and coolness under pressure kept a comfortable lead.
“I feel like if you don’t give your best, why play at all?” Whittle said. “If we give it our all, whatever the outcome is, we’ll be fine.”
UC had to beat No. 1 seed Coronado to get here, avenging an early-season blowout. That ability to put mistakes and losses quickly in the rearview mirror carried the Centurions when the pressure was highest.
“This team has worked really hard,” Hartin said. “From the first match to tonight, we work really hard. We don’t really get rattled. I’ve been telling them all season how impressed I am how we respond to pressure. We stay focused.”