Sequoia denied state title

The “Purple Reign” Ravens’ CIF magic finally ran out Saturday at Santiago Canyon College, as Southern California champion Our Lady of Peace-San Diego (22-11) swept its way to a 25-18, 25-23, 25-19 victory to claim the Division III state crown.

“I think everybody on the court, nobody dropped faith at any point,” Sequoia junior Jayda McGlennon said. “I think everybody stayed in it the entire time and, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.”

McGlennon wore her emotions on her sleeve from the moment Our Lady of Peace senior middle Delilah Wilson scored her fifth match block at championship point to send the Pilots storming onto the court to celebrate their program’s first-ever state title. The junior setter drove the Ravens’ offense almost exclusively, totaling 30 of the team’s 32 assists.

Our Lady of Peace senior setter Caitlin Prior kept her offense running as efficiently as ever with 33 assists, while star outside hitter Charlotte Wickstrand shared the match-high with 13 kills.

Through five CIF Division III victories, the Pilots ultimately dropped just one set, including back-to-back sweeps in the So. Cal and state championship matches.

“They were a really good team,” said Samantha McMurtry, Sequoia’s sophomore middle who shared the match-high with 13 kills. “They have an amazing setter, so sometimes it was hard to read where she was going to go. And I think our block had a little bit of trouble trying to lock them down, and then that kind of just scatters your whole game plan, because the defense doesn’t really know where to stand, and it just kind of throws your plan up in flames.”

In Game 2, the Pilots stole Sequoia’s thunder by rallying for a comeback of their own. The Ravens (25-16) held an 18-15 advantage, when a Wickstrand rocket off the left side, sandwiched by three Sequoia field errors, saw Our Lady of Peace mount a 4-0 run to swing ahead.

The Ravens seemed to tie it 20-all when libero Joslin Fiel fired a service ace, but a prolonged play stoppage resulted in Fiel’s ace being retroactively overturned for Sequoia serving out of order, a call both head coach Bryant Tran and Fiel disputed. Even with the setback, Sequoia’s comeback mentality didn’t waver.

“The momentum was definitely there,” Fiel said. “We were very close to getting that second set. Personally, it didn’t really stop me much. I was excited. I was like: ‘Great, I get to serve again.’”

The Ravens bounced back to retie it at 20-20 when freshman middle Yanely Rodriguez chopped the block, and would tie it again at 23-all when McMurtry tooled through the middle. The Pilots, though, earned set point when a Sequoia return floated wide, before junior Talia Butler finished it out with one of her five match blocks.

Tran said Fiel’s ace being overturned was immaterial in the grand scheme of things.

“I’m not going to blame it on that,” Tran said. “We caught back up even after that.”

Blame it on Wickstrand. The junior scored six kills in the second set, then — as if Sequoia’s attack didn’t have enough to contend with in Butler and Wilson — she opened Game 3 with a loud solo block through the middle. Not only did Wickstrand lead all attackers with a .263 hitting percentage, the third-year six-rotation player added two blocks, and fell just shy of a double-double with nine digs.

“If we look at it statistically, Char is our leading outside in digs,” Pilots head coach Mary-Kate Catton said. “She’s super aggressive defensively as well. It’s something that I know she’s always going to put everything behind trying to get to a ball. If a ball is within her reach, she will put the effort to get there. We are putting ourselves into positions to continue to play.”

Our Lady of Peace held Sequoia’s Game 3 comeback push at bay. The Ravens consistently drew to within a point, including 17-16 when they defended the block by picking up two Pilots put-backs before senior outside hitter Katalina Tuipulotu’s monster dig sailed toward the scorer’s table, only to see Fiel rescue it with a bump over the net for a surprise libero kill. After a side-out, Sequoia clawed back to 18-17 when the Pilots misfired long.

Prior followed with a sneak-attack dump kill to spark a 5-0 run for Our Lady of Peace, though, to all but put the championship on ice.

Tuipulotu finished her varsity career with a double-double of 10 kills and a match-high 15 digs.

“I’m really proud of my girls today,” Tran said. “I think they came out and played really well. I think we played a little too safe today.”

Despite Our Lady of Peace graduating three senior starters, including its dynamic setter, Wickstrand is thinking big for the future of the San Diego private school program — one that has something in common with Sequoia, in that the Pilots didn’t win their league or section championship, only to go on and win their first hardware of the season in the CIF regional finals.

“I think we just keep it going,” Wickstrand said. “The last three years I’ve been with this team, we’ve just grown every single year. So, I think that this is just another year, another stepping stone, and I think we can come back even stronger next year. And I think that this is a big moment in our school’s history, and in this program’s history, and I think we’re just going to keep growing.”

Sequoia graduates just three seniors, including Tuipulotu, who said she is excited for the Ravens’ future as well.

“I’m pretty excited for them, actually,” Tuipulotu said. “Everyone’s amazing on this team ... and as long as they just have that bond, we’re good.”