Marymount girls volleyball defeats Mira Costa to

Marymount‘s girls volleyball team is peaking at the right time — and that could mean trouble for opponents.

The Sailors had everything working for them in a 25-13, 25-17, 25-15 sweep of visiting Mira Costa in the Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals on Tuesday night, showing no signs of rust after a first-round bye in the 12-team bracket.

“We couldn’t have been more ready,” Washington-bound senior hitter Sammy Destler said. “Our energy got us to the finish line. We were on fire. That’s the best we’ve played all season.”

Destler entered the match two kills shy of 1,000 for her profession and it didn’t take long for her to attain the milestone, reaching it on a strike to the correct aspect that gave Marymount a 12-6 lead in the first set.

“I had no clue until they announced it, but it feels good,” said Destler, one of seven Sailors who completed with at least 5 kills. “We’re very familiar with them, they have Audrey [Flanagan] and Simone [Roslon] and they’re always tough but tonight was about everything we did on our side.”

The fifth-seeded Mustangs (24-10), who shared the Bay League crown with No. 2 Redondo Union despite dropping their first league match since 2019, had pushed Marymount to 5 units in a nonleague match in September, but this time they may not deal with the Sailors’ balanced assault.

Marymount’s serving saved Mira Costa out of system all match. In the first set alone the Sailors served seven aces, including three in a row by Southern Methodist-bound center blocker Elle Vandeweghe, that put her group up 20-9. She and Destler mixed for a stuff block on set level.

Destler opened the second set with another ace, then Frankie Jones ended it with a kill. Destler and Makenna Barnes, a Northwestern commit, had eight kills apiece while Vandeweghe and the Brown-bound Jones each added six.

Flanagan, a Wisconsin commit, paced the Mustangs with eight kills and acquired a hug afterward from Destler, one of her best pals.

“We’ve played so many more matches than other teams,” Marymount coach Cari Klein said. “I didn’t want it, but I think we needed those extra few days rest because of the intensity of our schedule.”

The fourth-seeded Sailors (37-5) superior to the semifinals to face top-seeded Sierra Canyon (37-3) on Saturday for the fourth time this season. The Sailors received the first assembly, 21-25, 25-15, 25-12 in the finals of the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas. The Trailblazers rebounded to take a pair of Mission League conferences over a span of eight days.

Klein, who is hoping to pilot the Sailors to their eleventh part title in her 28 seasons, was so locked in to the duty at hand Tuesday that she didn’t look at the CIF web site to see if her group had received the coin flip for the next spherical: “Please say it’s here!”

Her want was not granted, as Marymount may have to journey to Chatsworth, where it dropped a five-set thriller on Sept. 29, but Destler is assured they’ll win on any court.

“If we play like we this, there’s no stopping us,” she said.

Defending champion and third-seeded Mater Dei (30-4) will journey to San Juan Hills (22-5) in Saturday’s other semifinal.