Mountain Valley League Champions Rim of the World (26-1) defeated Windward (15-5) in three sets in the CIF Southern Section 3AA finals Saturday night.
According to Windward Volleyball Head Coach Michelle McGuire, the Wildcats fought through bouts of ball control issues against a “scrappy Rim team” but came up short in the CIF championship match.
“The Windward hitters could not find their rhythm and several hit in the negatives put Windward in uncharted waters,” said McGuire. “The ball control on serve receive that Windward had improved upon so much over the course of the system was just not there due to the excellent serving of Rim.”
Windward made it to the finals match against Rim of the World High School after soundly beating Santa Monica High School on Nov. 13.
“To their credit,” said Coach McGuire, “Rim played a solid match and served us out of system consistently. This put a lot of pressure on our setters as well as our hitters to make something out of nothing and try and better the ball. I will say, this team never gave up during the match. And just like our great outings, this one was done as a team. Regardless, I am extremely proud of all of the team’s accomplishments through their dedication and work ethic and I am proud to be their coach.”
State playoff brackets will be announced on Sunday and there is an outside chance that Windward could earn a bid despite the loss on Saturday, Nov. 17 in the finals.
Check back at smmirror.com for updates and details.
