Sierra Canyon girls volleyball sweeps Marymount in Mission League debut
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CHATSWORTH — Sierra Canyon knows how to make an entrance.
The Trailblazers kicked the proverbial Mission League front doors wide open — after coming from the Gold Coast League — by sweeping Marymount (26-24, 25-23, 25-23) in a showdown between two of the best teams in the country, and Sierra Canyon’s Mission League debut, Tuesday night.
It marked Marymount’s first league loss since 2018 when it fell to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
The Sailors (4-2, 1-1 Mission) came into the match as the No. 12-ranked team in the country, according to Maxpreps.com. Sierra Canyon (14-2 overall, 1-0) is on the ‘bubble’ just outside the Top 25.
Not for long.
“Coming in, we were ready,” Sierra Canyon libero Lauren Lynch said. “We were determined to pull through.”
The competition began even before the first serve. Sierra Canyon played classical music on the gym’s sound system as Marymount warmed up. The Sailors responded by pulling out their own boombox and playing “Baby Shark” when it was the Trailblazers’ turn to warm up.
“It didn’t work,” Lynch said.
The first set began close, then Sierra Canyon was able to maintain a lead of two or three points on big offensive plays. Marymount was able to tie it late at 23-23 with a Trailblazer error, but the home team put the set away with kills from Olivia Babcock (13 kills) and Jaida Tausa’afia Sione (11 kills).
Sierra Canyon found itself in a deficit in the second set, at one moment trailing by four points. Danica Rach (12 kills) came up with kills at key moments to keep her team within striking distance and in the third set, the Trailblazers jumped out to an early lead.
The Sailors tied the final set at 23-all before Ava Hewitt and Sione combined for a big block to end the night early. Lynch, who ended the night with 18 digs and two aces, kept the play alive with a dig to a ball sent hard to center court.
“She just brings this grittiness to the court,” coach Stefanie Wigfall said. “She brings us reliability on the court. She’s the anchor of our backcourt for sure.”
Sierra Canyon has swept Marymount.
The Trailblazers won the third set 25-23 to hand Marymount its first loss since 2018, when it lost to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. pic.twitter.com/KKFfzsfXkA
— Haley Sawyer (@haleymsawyer) September 7, 2022
Setter Sade Ilawole chipped in 40 assists and Hewitt had two kills and two blocks.
The Trailblazers have announced their presence, but there’s no time to bask in any form of glory. They’ll play Notre Dame Academy on Thursday, then Harvard-Westlake, another one of the Mission League’s best teams, is on deck for next week.
“If we had a great match before,” Wigfall said, “we’re not thinking that that’s going to carry into the next match without a lot of focus and concentration and hard work.”