1. Mater Dei-Santa Margarita (CIF-SS Finals)
Mater Dei d. Santa Margarita 22-25, 25-18, 17-25, 25-20, 18-16
Trailing 14-12 and overcoming another match point at 15-14 to win the school’s first CIF championship in boys volleyball, well, it was Like Magic for Mater Dei.
No. 15: Newport Harbor v. Mira Costa, Santa Barbara TOC semifinals
No. 14: Mission Viejo v. Thousand Oaks, CIF-SS D1 1st Rnd
No. 13: Beckman v. Valencia, CIF-SS D2 Qtrs
No. 12: Servite v. Esperanza, CIF-SS D1 1st Rnd
No. 11: St. John Bosco v. Long Beach Poly, CIF-SS D1 2nd Rnd, nonleague
No. 10: Loyola v. Mira Costa, nonleague
No. 9: Corona del Mar v. Newport Harbor, nonleague
No. 8: Trabuco Hills v. Oak Park, CIF-SS D2 Qtrs
No. 7: Thousand Oaks v. St. John Bosco, CIF-SS D1 Qtrs
No. 6: Mater Dei v. Mira Costa, CIF-SS D1 Qtrs
No. 5: Corona del Mar v. Santa Margarita, So Cal Regional D2 Semi
No. 4: Laguna Beach v. St. Francis Parker, So Cal Regional D3 Final
No. 3: Mater Dei v. Westlake, So Cal Regional D2 Semi
No. 2: St. John Bosco v. Loyola, CIF-SS D1 1st Rnd
No. 1: Mater Dei v. Santa Margarita, CIF-SS D1 Final
Alittle bit of magic and A LOT OF LUCK!
SM should have won CIF no doubt
Luck? Luck would be if SM had dominated everyone all year including MD and then MD just caught SM on a day where they didn’t play well…. but SM had a cake walk to the finals once beat Loyola. And MD beat SM in the last game of league to take second place outright…bosco
SM even with all their talent, height, and superior volleyball skills never truly dominated a match. They did not play as a team and they never played for each-other like great teams do, they were some players on that team who did not buy into the system and did not buy into the idea of a team with one goal!
It was not luck… it was TEAM beating individuals! Congrats MD!
Thats kind of funny….SM crushed MD in the OC Championships and when they played at SM….the match took 45 mins. I’m pretty sure that is one team dominating another. They were the most dominating team all year in high school boys volleyball…They were in the finals of all three major tournaments in SOCAL (winning two of them) and they won the Trinity League out right. They probably played the toughest non league schedule too going 4-0….Loyola, Newport, Huntington, and Edison.
It’s simple…MD got lucky and some pretty good breaks/calls in the CIF Final. That is what is great about high school athletics…anyone can win on any given day.
Now I’d have to agree with Volleyballfan on this one. SM did in fact have better players and were by far dominant the entire year. However, MD playyed as a team during the postseason and they came out CIF CHAMPS! Great job to both teams!
To say that MD only won CIF was because of luck and some bad calls is a slap in the face to those kids who must have worked hard throughout the season to improve to the level you saw at the end of the season. I think what we saw was a transformation from a good volleyball team to a great volleyball team and there is nothing lucky about that. SM was great from the start and remained so throughout the season. But as the season progressed, MD became more comfortable as a team – adapting to their new coach, and you saw the product of that at the end of the season by the teams they had to beat to be called champions. MD definitely earned it – as would have SM had they won.
With all this talk regarding SM pretty much underachieving, it will be interesting to see where Chris puts Brian Cottriel on his top coaching list. A team that started #1 in the nation ended with a co-league championship. Mater Dei played like a team led by the POY. SM had more talent. Heat vs Mavs anyone?
I don’t see how SM underachieved? They won 2 tournaments and got to the finals of another one. They were outright TRINITY LEAGUE CHAMPIONS (Not co-champs SM 9-1, MD 8-2). They lost in the CIF Championship and were the #1 or #2 team in the country the entire year. If this is underacheiving then I would like to see what overacheiving is.
I would be willing to bet that if someone asked coach cottriel at the beginning of the season if they would be up 14-12 in the 5th game of the CIF Championship…he would take it everyday of the week and twice on Sundays. People forget that these are kids and not professionals. They get nervous and make mistakes. But they did not underachieve
VBFAN— I think it is illegal to play a high school match on a Sunday!
SM started 7-2, followed by 21 straight wins almost all of those sweeps. They finished 5-3. They had a lot of great success through out the middle of the season. When their talent was rolling they couldn’t be beat. However in the end when they were pressured they didn’t get it done. Mavs vs Heat, great analogy. Well coached teams improve at the finish line and come through in pressure situations: CDM & MD!
A team that couldnt finish when up match point THREE times in game five of a CIF final should not be called lucky for losing. Thats just a laughable comment.