SHP swept by Harker in Division IV finals

Late in the opening set, SHP (23-11) blocked three straight attacks off the right side, but Harker dug up all three to prolong the rally, until junior Michelle Ning finally recuperated, somehow finished with the offense in system, and put the ball away for a Harker point.

“It breaks you down a little bit at a time,” Gators head coach Ali Magner said. “And I would say Harker was completely athletically dominant tonight. And I am in admiration of them and what they’ve been able to accomplish this season.”

Harker and SHP, along with Menlo School, all finished in a three-way tie for second place in the West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division this season. And the two head-to-head matches between Harker and SHP during the regular season were both sweeps — one in favor of SHP and one for Harker.

The Gators swept the first matchup Sept. 19, an outcome that stayed with Harker, according to Eagles head coach Theresa Smith.

“The first time we played them, they just embarrassed us,” Smith said. “The second time … we were much better on track and we picked up some things that we could do against them that we exploited this time.”

Specifically, the Eagles centralized their attack through the middle in that regular-season rematch Oct. 15. And they continued with more of the same Saturday at Palo Alto High School. Harker scored its first four points through the middle compliments of senior Lauren Beede.

Harker scored 14 kills in the opening set, eight going through the middle and four to the opposite hitter on the right side. Only two of the Eagles’ kills in Game 1 were from the prototypical left side, and each were late at scores of 20-7 and 24-11.

“We knew that was coming,” Magner said. “They did that to us the last time that we played against them. And we did not execute our game plan at all. We weren’t disciplined. The momentum took us into a negative space that we weren’t able to climb out of. And that happens. It’s a game of momentum.”

While Harker continued the formula through Game 2 — the Eagles scored 11 team kills in the second set, just two off the left side — SHP had its best chance to turn the match around in walking a back-and-forth scoring battle to a 14-14 deadlock. The Gators then ramped up the attack through senior outside hitter Elena Radeff, the leading scorer in the CCS, who twice tooled the block for consecutive kills to amid a 6-0 SHP run.

Harker answered right back, though, getting a right-side kill from Ning and a block from senior outside hitter Ashley Jazbec during a 5-point run to tie it 20-20.

Then with the scored tied 22-22, the Gators misfired wide to give Harker the advantage. Beede followed with a kill through the middle to force set point, and sophomore Tara Ozdemir finished it off with an ace.

“I wish this is how this team has played (all season),” Smith said. “We’ve been getting stronger as the season has progressed. Tactically, we focused on doing a couple things and we executed it. Serving the seams was one of the big ones. We’ve got good servers. We’re not big; we don’t put a lot of balls straight down. But we’ve got a lot of people that can play and if we’re fast enough, and serve receive pass well enough, then we can get into the system and we can set anybody. Then it’s really hard to block that.”

SHP totaled 11 unforced errors in Game 2, including eight field errors.

“You can’t make errors, not in a championship match,” Magner said. “Consistency is key.”

Game 3 was a runaway freight train as Harker reeled off an early 10-0 run. Jazbec finally exploited the left pin, scoring five of her match-high 11 kills in the closing set.

Eagles setter Emily Cheng ultimately scored the championship point with a dump for her third match kill.

Beede and Radeff shared the match-high with 11 kills apiece.

Beyond the numbers, Harker was simply in the zone and had an answer for everything.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Sacred Heart Prep senior Regan Smith said. “But we’re a team that trains to keep a really good mindset throughout the whole game. And I think that mindset wavered a little bit. But this is not our last game. We’ll be coming back stronger.”

The Gators’ postseason continues with the start of the CIF State Volleyball Championships. SHP earned the No. 1 seed in the Division III tournament and will host No. 16 Madera South Tuesday at 6 p.m.