Torrey Pines ends CdM’s girls’ volleyball season

Reporting from San Diego —  During the regular season, the Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team proved to itself that it could play with anyone.

A four-set victory at Los Angeles Marymount, a team that wound up being the top seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, was evidence of that.

After a straight-sets defeat against San Diego Torrey Pines in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions on Oct. 21, the Sea Kings made the trip down to Torrey Pines for a rematch on Thursday. They looked very much like they belonged in the match.

The Falcons, however, demonstrated why they deserved the top seed in the CIF State Southern California Regional Open Division playoffs.

Torrey Pines mounted a stunning rally to even the match in the second set, and the Falcons went on to beat the No. 8 Sea Kings 20-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-14.

Running a 6-2 offense, both setters for Torrey Pines (33-3) would have a major impact on the match. Emily Fitzner had 19 assists and 14 kills. Kiara McNulty handed out 30 assists with nine kills.

“I think all of us decided that we weren’t ready for our season to be over,” McNulty said of her team’s eight-point run to end Game 2. “We knew that we wanted to win this. We’re on to the quarterfinals.

“We have a lot ahead of us. I just think we know that we have bigger things [on our minds] than losing in the Round of 16.”

Torrey Pines will host No. 5 Redondo Union in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Redondo defeated No. 4 San Diego Canyon Crest Academy in five sets to advance.

It was the left-handed McNulty, bound for Northwestern, who served out the final seven points of the second set, one that the Sea Kings had led 19-17 before the comeback was completed.

“It’s as simple as they stepped up,” CdM coach Steve Astor said. “I don’t think we all of the sudden started playing bad. They just showed how good they are.

“Most teams will get tighter at the end, but they served tougher at the end of set two.”

An influx of hitting errors from Torrey Pines to start Game 2 had CdM (23-8) primed to take a two-set lead in the match. The Falcons committed six hitting errors, and Maya Satchell (nine kills) had two service aces that put the Sea Kings up 10-4.

The six-point edge remained intact at 13-7. Kendall Kipp (18 kills and nine digs) seemingly was everywhere, alternating between the outside hitter and opposite positions. At one point, she registered six consecutive kills for the Sea Kings, giving CdM a 19-17 lead.

Torrey Pines would not surrender another point in Game 2, riding the serve of McNulty and the hitting of Trinity Durfee and Fitzner to win the set 25-19.

“I think it was a timeout, and our coach [Brennan Dean] just got us really fired up,” said Torrey Pines senior outside hitter Jaden Whitmarsh, a UCLA signee for beach volleyball. “It was like flipping a switch. It was just those couple of words that got us all super fired up to play better. We just came out way harder.”

Whitmarsh had 13 kills and a couple of big blocks on Kipp when the Sea Kings junior was playing on the right side. Dani Fornaciari added five blocks for the Falcons.

It was the beginning of the end for CdM. The Falcons rode that wave of momentum, winning the third set 25-15.

A similar result played out in Game 4. Torrey Pines swung aggressively and blocked fearlessly. Once the Falcons had hit their stride, there was no stopping them.

CdM fell behind 14-2 in the final set, but the Sea Kings regained their competitive edge to close out the set. Astor said he admired the effort in light of the daunting deficit his team was facing.

“I’m super proud of the way we fought,” Astor said. “We did not give up at all. We were down 14-2 in Game 4. We kept fighting super hard at the end. I’m going to remember that a lot about this match, rather than just the loss.”

Ashley Humphreys, the Sea Kings’ USC-bound setter, had 40 assists and eight digs.

Christina Davenport had 11 kills for CdM. The senior outside hitter has said that she plans to pursue walk-on opportunities in college.

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