Wijay, who was hired in December of last year after winning two state titles at Bishop Alemany, put her team through the paces in preparation for Friday's 25-22, 25-14, 25-17 victory.
"It wasn't easy at first," senior outside hitter
Kylie Parker said. "The past few seasons have been chill and Morgan is intense. I've never been so sore in my life (talking about preseason conditioning)."
But the offseason preparation and a Mission League schedule that includes nationally-ranked Sierra Canyon and Marymount set the Wolverines up for success.
Harvard-Westlake celebrates its CIF Division 1 state title on Friday after sweeping Woodcreek. (PHOTO: Diane Torrence)
On Friday, Harvard-Westlake (28-8) grabbed the reins of the match early and never let off the gas.
"I have reputation and we're going to have to go to work," Wijay said of pushing her players to excel. "It's easy to be intimidated, but they were excited to be pushed out of comfort zone. I don't think any of us thought we'd end with state championship."
Parker led the way for Harvard-Westlake with 14 kills while junior
Sophia Cotter added 11. Setter
Grace Ge dished up 41 assists while a Woodcreek (42-7) hit .045 against a stifling Wolverines' defense and net presence.
"We started a little rough and couldn't get the momentum going," Woodcreek coach Brian Jew said. "We've never been here and this was a great experience. I'm proud of this team. We knew what we were going against."
Harvard-Westlake raced to a 20-15 lead in the first set before hanging on as Woodcreek threatened. But the second set was all Wolverines. The Timberwolves trailed early in the third but pulled to 17-16 at one point, but just didn't have the offense to grab a set.
