Courtesy of Tony DiamantidisSaturday, September 19, 2009 - For the second year in a row, Miramonte High School’s women’s volleyball wins one of the region’s elite tournaments with a perfect 6-0 record against some of the area’s top high school volleyball teams. Led by co-captains and tournament MVPs Mary Diamantidis and Juliana Stivanicevic, the Lady Matadors stormed by arch-rivals Carondelet and Maria Carillo before beating Marin Catholic and then Drake High School in the final match of the tournament.
In spite of recent year successes, Miramonte had been unable to defeat the Drake Pirates. This time, the result was different. Winning the first game 25-12, the eleventh straight game without a game dropped up to this point, the Lady Mats seemed untouchable. But the Pirates stormed back, taking the second game 25-14. In the final game of the match, the two teams exchanged points and Drake led 7-6 when Senior Co-Captain Lissa Gilbert served nine straight points, including three aces, to clinch the game 15-7 and the championship for the Lady Matadors. Stivanicevic led the team with 11 kills, 2 blocks and 5 digs against Drake and Diamantidis had 7 kills, 5 blocks and 12 assists.
Mary Diamantidis soars above the net for one of her 7 blocks against Drake High School
Photo courtesy of Chris Gilbert
En route to its perfect day, Miramonte also defeated Mercy High School, St. Mary’s Catholic and a very strong Marin Catholic High School team in the semi-final match before meeting Drake.
Miramonte has opened this year’s campaign with a record of 7-1 under first year head coach and Miramonte Alum Shannon Ross and Assistant Coach Joey Ballesteros. The animated coach made a series of lineup adjustments throughout the day and kept the team fresh and competitive in every match.
“Everyone on the team shares equal credit for our success,” said Ross. “Juliana had a lot of key kills and defensive plays for us today, and helped motivate her teammates as well. Mary Diamantidis set with authority, blocked extremely well and had some crucial kills for us.”
“Haley Sayres came through with some key kills (6) and blocks (2) in final match, as did Michelle Ent (3 kills, 2 blocks), Kirsten Rutledge (4 kills, 2 blocks) and Audrey Breitweiser (4 kills, 3 blocks). Sarah Vaccaro made some excellent decisions on the court today (15 assists) and was unstoppable defensively.”
“Our defense and blocking was absolutely key for us today against Drake; both of them came up huge! Lissa Gilbert made some amazing digs (8), in addition to her powerful serving (3 aces), and Jane Siri was consistent on defense (6 digs).”
