Wildcats volleyball team wins to earn a rematch in CIF finals

The Pasadena Polytechnic Panthers won their first 22 matches of the girls volleyball season, including a perfect record in winning the Prep League and advancing to the CIF Division 3 semifinals.

Then they played Paloma Valley.

Before a large enthusiastic crowd in the Paloma Valley gym, the Wildcats beat Pasadena Poly in three sets Saturday night, 25-13, 25-13, 25-15. Poly never had a lead at any point in the match against Paloma Valley, which advanced to the CIF Division 3 finals next Saturday. That will be a rematch of last year's CIF final against Ontario Christian, which beat the Wildcats in the divisional final and in the second round of the state tournament a year ago.

Showing their determination to earn that rematch, the Wildcats dominated from start to finish Saturday night. Using a height and aggressiveness edge up front, the Wildcats were relentless in making kills and blocks at the net. In doing so, they improved their overall record to 30-6.

Outside hitter Lizzy Markovska (right), a 5-foot-11 senior who joined the Wildcats in midseason after transferring from Heritage High, led Paloma with 15 kills. Gabby Hollins, a 5-foot-10 senior, added 11. But it was more than just the crashing blows dealt by those two and the 6-foot-1 Jayde Shelton. It was the 11 total blocks in the match. It was the 9 service aces -- including some by junior Olivia Karwin, who now holds the school record in that category.

It truly was a team effort, and one coach Stephen Kaas says the Wildcats prepared for well.

"I knew we needed to do that," Kaas said. "From a psychological standpoint, if we could take their best player (senior outide hitter Ella Mao) away early ... I knew they hadn’t seen anybody like us. But La Salle was good. I just think they played better defense than La Salle."

Kaas' reference was to Poly's second-round playoff match, in which the Panthers rebounded from a 2-0 deficit in sets to beat La Salle in five sets. He certainly didn't want anything like that to happen to the Wildcats Saturday night.

The only timeout Kaas took in the match came with Poly cutting into the deficit at 17-12 in the third set. After that break, Markovska and Shannon Dunkin combined on a block for a point, Markovska came up with a brutal kill shot, Hollins tipped one over for a point and the Wildcats were back on track, outscoring Poly 8-2 the rest of the way to win the match.

"I took a timeout and I said, 'We’re not doing this today, we’re going to take care of business right now,' " Kaas said. "I told Liz, who tipped a couple balls, 'We didn’t get here tipping, we got here swinging, so let’s get back to that.'

"We’re pretty big this year and I think the block got in their heads from the very beginning. We knew No. 13 (Mao) could go off if we let her, so we were going to serve her every ball and make her play every play. It worked out for us.

"Eleven total blocks and 9 aces. We got a full game’s worth of aces and blocks. That will win a lot of sets."

Ontario Christian also won in straight sets on Saturday, defeating Culver City. Ontario Christian won a coin flip to be named host team for next Saturday's championship match, but it might not be played in the home gym of the Knights, who are 32-3 overall. Paloma Valley is appealing to CIF officials to have the match played at a neutral location, citing Ontario Christian's limited seating capacity, low ceiling and limited lighting. That decision is yet to be made.

Team co-captain Olivia Karwin makes one of several successful sets for teammates. Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre

Rachel Lowe and Jayde Shelton combine to block a shot during Saturday night's CIF playoff match. Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre

Gabby Hollins battles for a ball at the net during Paloma Valley's victory over Pasadena Poly. Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre