ORANGE — The third time was the charm for
Palos Verdes (Palos Verdes Estates) as the Sea Kings won their first CIF state title after finishing as a runner-up in the past two seasons.
"We were hoping for this outcome," said Palos Verdes coach Lacey Minzlaff.
She said the process leading up to the finals was the same as the two previous seasons.
"We didn't do anything different," she said. "We watched film, had a regular practice. We talked about this all season and it was always the goal.
"It wasn't 'Let's not lose.'"
The Sea Kings came out on a mission, winning the first two sets decisively on the arm of
Kaci Demaria and savvy of senior
Mallory LaBreche, who was a Swiss Army knife on the floor for Palos Verdes.
"The whole season was about this goal," LaBreche said.
Stanford commit Kaci Demaria led Palos Verdes to the CIF Division I title on Friday with a sweep of Foothill. Demaria had 24 kills as the Sea Kings won the the title after falling short in each of the past two seasons. (Photo: Marvin Jimenez)
The Stanford-bound Demaria had eight kills in the first set while libero
Ava Hassanein reeled off a nine-point run in the first set to lead the Sea Kings to the 1-0 lead.
Deamaria ended the night with 24 kills, including 10 in a third set that saw Foothill put up a valiant fight.
"A lot of teams would've rolled over, but we competed in that third set and that's what I'll take away from this match," Foothill coach Dusty Collins said.
The Falcons never trailed by more than two points in the third set and had several leads.
But Demaria, who took last season off to focus on her academics, was clutch down the stretch. She had five kills over the last eight points, giving the Sea Kings a 21-20 lead and then ending the match with a thunderous kill.
LaBreche had nine kills and 28 assists for Palos Verdes while her sister
Molly LaBreche had 22 digs and seven assists.
