St. Paul knocks off Whittier in four sets to advance to girls volleyball championship

SANTA FE SPRINGS — For the first time since 2017, the St. Paul girls volleyball team will be heading to the CIF-Southern Section championship after defeating Whittier in four sets in Saturday’s Division 7 semifinals.

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St. Paul reacts after winning the third set against Whittier during a girls volleyball CIF-SS Division 7 semifinals match at St. Paul High School in Whittier on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

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St. Paul hosted neighboring Whittier and rallied back after dropping the first set to win 20-25, 25-23, 25-17 and 25-19 to reach next’s Saturday’s championship, where the Swordsmen will take on Laguna Beach in hopes of winning their first title since the 2017 season. The time and location of the finals have yet to be determined.

St. Paul coach Riley Kelly, who finished 4-17 last season in her first year in charge, credited the turnaround to her players.

“These girls have worked so hard, last year we finished league 0-12, this year it’s a complete 180,” Kelly said. “Super proud of all of them. We have three starting freshmen, some seniors that want to leave a legacy behind and I’m just super proud of them.”

St. Paul outside hitters Kailee Mejia and Jayla Esquivel both recorded over 13 kills respectively.

Mejia, a senior who’s committed to the University of Montana for softball, showed off her elite athleticism as she led the way for the Swordsmen’s offense.

“Our offense is really outside hitter heavy, we tried to move the ball around as much as we can but Jayla (Esquivel) and Kailee (Mejia) step up whenever we need them to,” Kelly noted.

Whittier came out sluggish in the first set after losing a starter in the pregame warmups due to injury. However, after being down by as many as four points, the Cardinals put together an impressive 6-0 run to take the lead 20-17. Whittier outside hitter Asia Cardenas fueled the Cardinals with two key blocks to keep St. Paul at bay.

The Swordsmen would tack on three more points, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Cardinals would string together another impressive 4-0 run to close out the Swordsmen and jump out to a 1-0 set lead in the match.

St. Paul defensive specialist Ashley Victorian said despite dropping the first set, her team didn’t worry.

“I think we had to remember why we’re here and what we’re all fighting for,” Victorian said. “Our coach kept on just giving us the hyp and energy we needed.”

The Swordsmen opened the second set with some momentum, jumping to a 6-3 lead, but the Cardinals kept it close and even took a 20-17 lead.

A key block from St. Paul setter Riley Avina would allow the Swordsmen to steal the second set late. St. Paul would go on an 8-3 run to come away with the second set 25-23.

The Swordsmen would take firm control of the match in the third set. They would only trail once during the set and that was when Whittier took a 3-2 lead. St. Paul went on a 6-0 run to regain the lead 8-3 and they wouldn’t give it back, finishing the set 25-17.

Although Whittier was down 2-1, the Cardinals still jumped to a hot start in the fourth set. An early ace by Whittier libero Marrisa Lira would put the Cardinals up 6-4. Whittier built on their lead and extended it to 9-5 before the Swordsmen came roaring back thanks to a couple of timely plays by the Swordsmen’s duo of freshmen in Avina and Esquivel, which ended up sealing the match for the Swordsmen.

Mejia, a senior leader on the team, offered up some high praise for both freshman players.

“Our freshmen came in and did great, we couldn’t be here without our freshman,” she exclaimed.

Victorian added that it was the team’s belief in each other that helped them gut out the win.

“We were fighting for each other and not ourselves, it got us the win and now we are onto the finals.

SATURDAY’S SEMIFINAL SCORES

DIVISION 6

Oak Hills defeats South Pasadena, 3-0

Walnut defeats Crossroads, 3-1

DIVISION 7

St. Paul defeated Whittier, 3-1

DIVISION 8

Bell Gardens defeated Charter Oak, 3-1

DIVISION 9

Rialto defeats South El Monte, 3-2

St. Pius X-St. Matthias defeated Nogales, 3-0

DIVISION 10

Victor Valley defeated Rosemead, 3-0

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St. Paul knocks off Whittier in four sets to advance to girls volleyball championship – Whittier Daily News

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