Santa Margarita Eagles named to the 13th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the Santa Margarita (Calif.) Eagles have officially been named to the 13th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its eighth year honoring volleyball.

This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For volleyball, only 10 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 20,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Eagles ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!

In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating James Logan 25-19, 25-12, 25-13 on Friday, Dec. 1 in the CIF State Division I championship match marked the completion of an incredible 34-9 season — and earned Santa Margarita an invitation to the Tour of Champions.

Sarah Ciszek's match-winning kill nearly knocked over a James Logan player before falling harmlessly to the floor and undoing an 18-year state championship drought for Santa Margarita's volleyball program. The Eagles, who won their first state volleyball championship in 1999, trailed for the first time in the second set. But Katy Gammon's club recovered from the 2-1 deficit to go up 9-3 and never trailed again. The Eagles, who have also been to the state finals in 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2016, finished off James Logan in the third set with a 13-2 run.

Ciszek led the Eagle hitting attack with 15 kills and produced a.394 hitting percentage in the championship match. Devon Chang and Peyton Ehmke both hit .400 and added nine kills between them, while Taylor Heberle contributed 10 ace spikes. Ehmke led the champions with five blocks and Chang was credited with 32 of the 36 Eagle set assists and had 14 digs. Ashley Chow led the Eagles with 22 digs.



Santa Margarita opened state tournament competition with a 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 win over Palisades. Then, following a 25-17, 25-18, 25-15 triumph over Santiago, the Eagles upended Bishop's 25-16, 25-15, 25-13 to kick in the door to the Final Four. Santa Margarita bumped San Juan Hills from postseason play with a 25-16, 25-13, 23-25, 25-14 semifinal win to set up the championship bout with James Logan. The Eagles opened the season with two game sweeps of Mid-Pacific Institute and Buchanan before falling to Long Beach Poly 2-1. After Improving to 5-1, Santa Margarita dropped back to back decisions to Punahou and Mater Dei. The Eagles then won 29 of their final 35 matches, including 12 in a row from late August through September. Santa Margarita swept 28 opponents during the season and won 93 of 122 sets played.

Having won eight of their final nine contests, the Eagles set themselves up for some rather high rankings come season's end. Not only is Santa Margarita the second best team in MaxPreps' California Southern Section Division I rankings, the Eagles are ranked No. 2 in California's Southern Section and second in California's Division I rankings. Gammon's club sits No. 4 in the entire state of California and is ranked No. 10 in MaxPreps' National Rankings!

These incredible season achievements have earned the Santa Margarita Eagles an invitation to the 13th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the science lecture hall as we celebrate with the girls volleyball team, coaching staff, students and fans on Monday, Jan. 29 at 2:30 p.m. for an athletic assembly.

For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.