Mercy volleyball runs the table in WBAL

“We’ve been waiting for this all four years of my high school,” Mercy senior Ava Cacao said. “So, this is a big moment for everybody. I’m so glad I got to celebrate with everybody.”

Cacao had something to prove at match point after the referee called her attacking swing off the left side out, maybe just a hair past the back line. Maybe it wasn’t. It was a 50-50 call — so close that the Mercy bench was already storming the court in celebration.

But, with the call not going her way — and senior Mia Ferdinand abruptly shooing her teammates back to the bench — Cacao reloaded and called for the ball again. This time, the senior outside hitter put it down for her match-high 21st kill to finish out the victory.

“I thought that (previous shot) was in,” Cacao said. “I was celebrating in the moment, then they called it out. So, I had to call for it again and I had to put it away that time.”

Ferdinand added 14 kills and three blocks. Not only does the senior middle blocker play better when she has something to prove, she goes beast mode when she’s angry.

“Yeah, I do,” Ferdinand said. “I think I feed off my own emotion and I’m able to control it in a way where I’m able to kind of push it towards the game.”

And, Ferdinand got really ticked off early in Game 2 when she was called into the net to give SHP an early 4-2 advantage. The point for the Gators was the best thing to happen to the Bears in the early going as answered with a stone-cold bolt through the middle to spark a 6-1 run.

SHP (6-2, 17-14) answered back and took the lead back 9-8 on a service ace from senior Alexis Verner, one of her three match aces. But Mercy shored up its serve receive, played some clutch back-row defense, and broke an 11-11 tie with a soft touch off the block by senior Isis Ordaz. Ferdinand then scored back-to-back kills. The Bears — after jumping out to a fast lead in Game 3 — wouldn’t trail again until the fourth set.

SHP outside hitter Leilah Abrams came up clutch in Game 4, leading the Gators to an 11-2 lead. The freshman — one of two on SHP’s roster, along with southpaw opposite hitter Brie Eisenberg — totaled 16 match kills, including six of them in the fourth set.

“She and Brie are both extremely mature, and they both carry a big load, a heavy load,” SHP head coach Ali Magner said. “So, they’ve been incredible leaders on the team. Age is just a number. ... It’s a very young team all around.”

The young Gators took the experienced Mercy lineup out of system early and often. But the Bears tightened shored up their blocking scheme, doing well to take the line away from Eisenberg — who finished with eight kills — and committing to defending the dangerous angled cross shot of junior Poema Uegligitone.

“We were a little out of system, I think, for most of it,” Mercy head coach Serah Pele said. “It wasn’t as in tune as we normally are. We didn’t look like a well-oiled machine we’ve come to see. But I do also think that Sacred Heart brought it to us. They played a great match. So, I think they took us out of system a little bit.”

Uegligitone still rocked a team-high 17 kills, but Mercy jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Game 5 by the time she scored her first point of the final set. Ferdinand set the tone early, scoring the first point of the race to 15 with a 1-on-1 block through the middle. Cacao soon scored a block on a right-side tip.

SHP closed the deficit to 8-7 when Uegligitone exacted a laser cross off the left side. But Mercy junior Daniella Perez answered with a tight cross shot of her own, scoring off the right side to spark a 4-0 run. Ordaz later tooled the block off the left side for one of her eight match kills to force match point, setting the stage for Cacao to finish it out.

Senior libero Amira Festejo Rivera finished with 28 digs, while Ordaz had 18 and Cacao had 18 to carve out a double-double.

“I have never been more proud of this team,” Ferdinand said. “We’ve had some really amazing games, and I think that this one, being a championship game at the end of our league season — having our defense play like that, our underclassmen play like that — everybody stepped up.”

Mercy was dealt with a worrisome injury, as sophomore opposite hitter Isabella Reyes rolled her ankle by landing on a SHP player after an attacking try off the right-side pin. Play stopped for several minutes, and Reyes was in tears after being helped to the bench. The ankle was wrapped and she celebrated with her team following the win by making her way back onto the court on crutches.

“It swelled up fast,” Pele said. “So, I’m not sure if we’re going to have her for a little bit.”

SHP finishes the year in second place in the WBAL Foothill. The seeding meeting for the Central Coast Section volleyball playoffs is scheduled for Thursday.