San Juan Hills Girls Volleyball Sweeps San Clemente in Incredibly Tight South Coast League

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There may not be a more competitive league in any sport all year than South Coast League girls volleyball.

Last season, there was a three-way split for the league championship between San Clemente, San Juan Hills and Aliso Niguel. San Clemente went on to the quarterfinals of CIF-SS Division 2, and Aliso Niguel was the divisional runner-up.

Through two match days this season, the standings are upside-down, and it’s clear that this league will be anyone’s for the taking in a season-long battle of attrition.

“I don’t know if the math works to have even more than three (champions),” San Juan Hills coach Jessica Papell said, but it’s possible.”

San Juan Hills, ranked No. 11 in the combined Division 1 and 2 poll, dropped its league opener to Tesoro in four sets on Tuesday, Sept. 12. Dana Hills, ranked No. 4 in Division 3, won in a sweep at Aliso Niguel on the same day. Dana Hills followed up with a five-set win over Tesoro on Thursday, Sept. 14, and San Juan Hills swept San Clemente, ranked No. 14 in Division 1 and 2, in the Tritons’ league opener on Thursday.

The South Coast League’s three co-champions lost their league openers, and last season’s bottom two teams are the top two teams through the first week of league play this season.

“It’s exciting,” San Clemente coach Casey Swenson said. “You want our league to be this competitive all of the time. You don’t want to have easy matches. You want every match to be a battle like this. It’s good for the game. It’s good for our area.”

San Clemente hosts Dana Hills on Tuesday, Sept. 19 and is at Aliso Niguel on Thursday, Sept. 21. San Juan Hills is at Dana Hills on that Thursday.

Thursday’s matchup between San Juan Hills and San Clemente was the first meeting of any of the South Coast League’s reigning co-champions, and the Stallions made a hard and fast statement over the Tritons in a sweep, 25-11, 25-23, 25-23.

Montana-bound senior Alex Stone led San Juan Hills with 17 kills on a stellar .536 kill rate, and Annie Gilmore recorded 11 kills. Natalie Chapman drove the offense with 24 assists and five service aces, and Ella Dinnie led the defensive effort with 13 digs.

San Juan Hills felt like it blew an opportunity in its league-opening loss to Tesoro, and the Stallions went out for redemption at home against San Clemente. Montana-bound senior Alex Stone said the team’s mantra was “W.I.N. What’s Important Now.”

San Juan Hills used that focus to blow away San Clemente in the first set, as the Stallions never trailed and pushed out to an early 10-2 advantage in the 25-11 win.

“I wish we’d come with a little more of that energy and focus right from the start,” Swenson said, “because once the match settled in, it was a good, hard battle. Both sides were going at it. They took a tough loss on Tuesday, so we knew they were going to be up for it and ready and they showed us.”

For as much of a buzzsaw San Juan Hills was in the first set, the margin was razor thin between the Stallions and Tritons in the next two sets.

San Clemente edged out a three-point advantage in the second set before San Juan Hills battled back to tie the match at 18-18. The teams traded the next 10 points to a 23-23 tie, but the Stallions got enough to close the set, 25-23.

After matching points early in the third set, San Juan Hills pushed out on an 11-2 run and looked primed to easily close out the sweep with an 18-11 lead. San Clemente found its own bounce back to tie the set at 22-22 and 23-23, but once again, the Stallions earned the edge for the sweep, 25-23.

The Tritons and Stallions will lock horns again on Oct. 3 at San Clemente High School.