State Women's Volleyball Semifinal #1: San Diego Mesa outlasts SMC in 5 to reach the finals
S1 San Diego Mesa (31-1) d. S3 Santa Monica (27-5), 3-2, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-12
Santa Monica finishes in a third place tie at state
FOLSOM -- In a semifinals match on Saturday that had more twists and turns than any spy movie thriller, South #1 seed San Diego Mesa used 26 kills by Mia Lundberg to pull out a 5-set marathon over #3 Santa Monica in advancing to the championship final of the 3C2A State Women's Volleyball Championship.
A Second Team All-American freshman outside hitter, Lundberg was especially outstanding in the fifth set when she scored six kills and a block for nearly half of Mesa's points.
In the fifth, after so many intense rallies in the previous four sets, the teams traded service and attack errors but then Lundberg stepped up and drove two thundering center kills as she scored three after the change of sides to give Mesa an 11-8 lead. SMC responded with a block by Nicole Lankton and Makena Gamby and a kill by Mia Whitlock that cut it to 12-11.
After a timeout by Mesa, Lundberg timed a block with Isabella Barrios that regained Mesa's lead at 13-12. Sophomore opposite Bella Town crushed a kill, then Ruby Ennis served a mishandled ball for the match-point ace to ignite a celebration for the Olympians.
"I knew going into the timeout that in my heart, we were going to win," said Lundberg, who added 12 digs and and became the first state player in six years to score as many as 26 kills.
"With such a close match, it really came down to mentality in that last set. Our coaching staff does such a great job and our head coach Bobbie (Jo Vest-Stall) is always telling us to have fun. For me, I had five missed serves in the quarterfinals, and today I didn't make one and that is a lot about that mentality to be better."
Mesa, which stretched its winning streak to 28 straight, got 14 kills from Town, who hit .400, eight kills and four blocks by Barrios, and 50 assists dished out by Ennis, who landed three aces, had three blocks (two solos), and made nine digs. Also on the scoresheet was Giselle Haugen with five kills and Eva Luna tallying 10 digs.
For Santa Monica, its first trip to the state tourney in 31 years resulted in their highest finish in Corsairs history in a tie for third place. SMC saw an 18-match win streak snapped despite 17 kills by Whitlock, 12 by All-State middle blocker Lankton, who added four blocks, and 11 kills from Deavan Antoine-Dillon. Savannah Wooley contributed eight kills and 11 digs while Gamby was outstanding on 35 assists, three kills, three aces, and nine digs.
"When you get to a fifth set, every block, every dig, every play can go one way or the other," said SMC head coach Christian Cammayo. "Credit San Diego Mesa as they are a great team and well-coached. It's going to take a while to process this loss, but we made a tremendous run to get to state and these players can look back at this as a great moment for our program."
The first set started with Mesa/SMC trading four ties until the Olympians took a 7-6 lead then upped it to a 3-point advantage with two floating aces by Sneha Lee that hit paydirt. SMC cut it to 12-11 on a block by Lankton and Reese Luke. After the first timeout at 19-15, a behind-the-back kill by Ennis gave Mesa its biggest lead. However, the Corsairs cut it to 21-20 on another Lankton-Reese block and a back-line kill by Savannah Wooley.
The Olympians, who trailed just once at 1-0, followed a timeout with consecutive blocks including a solo by Ennis, then a kill that just hit the end line by Lundberg, who later ripped a kill off the block for set point and a 1-0 Mesa lead.
In the second set, it remained tight with eight ties before Lankton and Antoine-Dillon scored kills helped SMC get ahead 13-10. Frenzied play for both teams resulted in a number of wild rallies and dig saves before Antoine-Dillon teammed with Nadene Taase for a block, then Antoine-Dillon's bomb to make it 17-12.
Two hard serves by Wooley resulted in back-to-back aces and a 20-14 advantage. A kill by Reese Luke was followed by an attack error at the net by Mesa as SMC tied the match in sets, 1-1.
In the third set, SMC jumped in front, 12-8, as Gamby twirled an ace and made a smart fake set and dump to cap a short run. Down by 5, Mesa eventually took a 21-20 lead thanks to three kills by the right side Town. Santa Monica went back ahead 23-22, but Mesa pulled it out with a kill by Eva Luna, a solo block by Barrios and a Corsairs attack error to regain the sets advantage at 2-1.
The fourth began with Mesa up 9-6 on a Lundberg drive. With sideout, Gamby went on a solid serving run, twice landing aces to push SMC in front, 13-10. The intensity heightened with momentum switching point-for-point with Lundberg burying five kills and an Ennis ace cutting it to 21-20. But it was Gamby again finding the right time to end a long rally with another dump kill after Whitlock went cross court for a kill. An attack error allowed SMC to send it to the deciding fifth.
Mesa was responsible for two of Santa Monica's five losses this season. The Olympians are trying to win their second state title in three years after winning in 2023. They face the winner of tonight's N3 Feather River v. S4 Long Beach City semifinal in the title match on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWVCA/3C2A State Tournament SID