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MISSION VIEJO – Three weeks ago, Trabuco Hills lost its third consecutive match and finished South Coast League play in fourth place.
On Saturday, the Mustangs beat San Clemente in five sets, 25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 16-25, 15-11, to advance to the CIF-SS Division 2 championship.
Trabuco Hills (28-11) will make its first CIF championship appearance since they won the Division 1 title in 2015. The Mustangs will play at Los Alamitos on Saturday Nov. 3.
The Mustangs defeated San Clemente in a back-and-forth battle Saturday, which Trabuco has become accustomed to. Trabuco played five five-set matches this season, including a quarterfinal win over Corona del Mar and a season-opening loss to San Clemente.
Kendall Anselmo had a team-high 19 kills and had 10 digs for Trabuco Hills. @ocvarsity @THHSAthletics @kendallanselmo pic.twitter.com/Rm3W0WCwdu
— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) October 28, 2018
“Being at home was huge, and having three home matches in the playoffs is a miracle,” Trabuco Hills coach Craig Moothart said. “When it comes down to five sets, you never know, and doing it in front of our crowd made it sweeter. We are creating a lot of memories this season.”
Trabuco Hills and its championship opponent, Los Alamitos, had losing records in league but have figured out winning formulas at the right time.
“I think we just got our heads out of our butts and decided that we needed to pick it up,” senior outside hitter Kendall Anselmo said.
Anselmo and sophomore outside hitter Jenna Walsh filled up the stat sheet Saturday, tallying 19 and 16 kills, respectively. Anselmo also had a team-high 10 digs.
“We have tremendous leadership from our seniors like Kendall,” Moothart said. “They love each other and work hard for each other and having chemistry is 99 percent of girls volleyball. The seniors helped build team chemistry and that is much harder than the job I have.”
Trabuco went on a 13-4 run in the first set and had critical aces from Walsh and Kelly Negron en route to a 25-21 win.
San Clemente (28-9) won a wild, back-and-forth set in the second after a kill from outside hitter Kirra Schulz. The Tritons were helped by good production from their outside hitters Schulz and Tessa Van Winkle. Schulz had 10 kills and Van Winkle had 19 kills with a .368 hitting percentage.
“We knew we had a good matchup on the outsides, so we were trying to push that and attack it,” San Clemente coach Casey Swenson said. “They were great.”
The Mustangs went on an 8-0 run to jump to a 9-2 lead in the third set which prompted a San Clemente timeout. There was a controversial call about whether or not a ball was tipped out toward the end of the set which the officials deliberated about for nearly 10 minutes. After the officials ruled in Trabuco’s favor, San Clemente committed a service error to end the set.
San Clemente cruised to a nine-point victory in the third set, which included aces from Schulz and Malia Yim.
Nerves and two rabid student sections appeared to rattle both teams as they committed four straight service errors to begin the fifth set. Anselmo had three kills in the fifth set and Walsh got the match-winning kill to send the Mustangs to the championship.
Jenna Walsh with the kill to send Trabuco Hills to the CIF-SS Division 2 championship. Mustangs will travel to play Los Alamitos. @ocvarsity @THHSAthletics pic.twitter.com/akjbumWrb6
— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) October 28, 2018
“We lost to San Clemente in five sets in the season opener and she (Walsh) had a service error on match point and I said, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to come back and play big this season,’” Moothart said. “It’s ironic that she got the match-winning kill. Her composure as a sophomore is awesome and it brings confidence to the whole team.”
Trabuco Hills and Los Alamitos have each upset a team from the other’s league during the playoffs. Los Alamitos beat Aliso Niguel in the quarterfinals and Trabuco beat Surf League champion Corona del Mar in five sets in the quarterfinals.
“This is new territory for us,” Moothart said. “We don’t go in talking about goals like winning championships. We take it one play, one game at a time. When you work hard and take care of your business like that, good things happen.”
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