SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — JSerra’s girls volleyball team wrapped its nonleague slate Tuesday with a four-set win over San Juan Hills, 25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, at JSerra High.
The Lions (13-6) are ranked No. 6 this week in the Register’s Top 10 poll and San Juan Hills (10-3) is ranked No. 7.
The two schools have played each other at least once in every season since San Juan Hills first fielded a varsity team in 2010 with the exception of the COVID-19 season in 2020. JSerra leads the series 9-7 and the matches typically go five sets.
“I feel great about tonight,” JSerra coach Mike Murphy said. “I thought the first two sets we played well and were in control, but they were tight. We had to show some grit out there.”
The teams met twice in the 2023 season. JSerra beat San Juan Hills in a nonleague match and San Juan Hills beat the Lions at the Dave Mohs Tournament in two sets.
Sophomore Katherine Nowak led the Lions with 22 kills and had a team-high 28 digs.
“I am trying new shots, some of them are working and some of them are not,” Nowak said, “but it’s all about trying new things.”
“As an attacker, she’s got a ton of range and a powerful arm,” Murphy said of Nowak. “She’s only a sophomore but is a leader on the court and carries a lot on her shoulders.”
JSerra served well in the first set with three aces, two from junior Catherine Beadles. Beadles entered Tuesday second on the team in aces with 26 this season and had an ace to end the opening set.
The Lions had 12 aces as a team. Beadles had four and Makayla Ziegler added three.
“We’ve been focusing a ton on serving because earlier in the season that wasn’t a strength of ours,” Murphy said. “If you can put pressure on the serving line and get them out of system, it’s a big advantage.”
San Juan Hills went on a 7-0 run in the third set and defended JSerra’s offense well. Quin Frohoff and Whitney Port were effective blocking shots and Port led the team with seven blocks.
“We brought some energy and effort in the third set and it paid off,” San Juan Hills coach Jessica Papell said. “That was one of our best blocking matches of the season.”
JSerra dominated the third set and had a 22-11 lead at one point. Freshman setter Kendall Stark set up Layla Graham for a kill to end the match.
Beadles led the Lions with 34 assists and Graham was second on the team with eight kills.
Freshman Megan Hodges led San Juan Hills with 16 kills. Hannah Ray had 20 assists and 11 digs.
San Juan Hills is already within one win of matching its win total in 2023. The Stallions open South Coast League play Thursday at San Clemente.
“I think we are in a good spot,” Papell said. “Going into league, we’ve done a lot to prepare so we are ready to battle our league teams.”
JSerra won the CIF-SS Division 2 championship last season, its first CIF championship in school history. The Lions open Trinity League play Thursday on the road against Santa Margarita.
“We’ve gone through our ups and downs and the group is playing well right now,” Murphy said.
The Lions finished in second place in the Trinity League standings last season behind Mater Dei.
