PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : El Toro Is Ousted by Marlborough in Qualifying Round
El Toro’s bid to repeat as the State Division I girls’ volleyball champion ended abruptly Tuesday night when Los Angeles Marlborough upset the Chargers in a Southern Section qualification match.
Deb Sternlight’s five aces keyed a 9-0 run in the fifth game as Marlborough defeated El Toro, 11-15, 15-8, 15-6, 15-17, 15-6, at the El Toro gym.
Marlborough (10-6), last year’s State Division II runner-up, will play at Mira Costa (18-2) in a first-round match Thursday. El Toro ended the season 10-4.
El Toro led, 5-4, in the fifth game, but Sternlight’s sterling serving sparked Marlborough’s 9-0 streak that put the Mustangs ahead, 13-5. El Toro cut it to 13-6, but a hitting error by the Chargers’ Tishara Jespersen and a kill by Marlborough’s Anne Clark ended the match.
The fifth game overshadowed a great comeback by El Toro in the fourth game. The Chargers rallied from an 11-5 deficit and fought off match point at 14-12 to tie it, 15-15. The game ended on a kill by setter Analisa Saylor and a Marlborough hitting error.
Emily Boken had 25 kills and Kate Cardosa added 17 for Marlborough.
Jespersen had 19 kills, Amanda Burrows 13 and Saylor 58 assists for El Toro.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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