Lady Eagles rally from early deficit, spike No. 1 Lady Wildcats for CIF title

Saturday’s San Diego Section Division III girls volleyball championship game started on a down note for seventh-seeded Olympian High School as the opening serve slammed into the net. It got worse from there as top-seeded El Camino proceeded to sprint to a 14-4 lead on the scoreboard.

But then something clicked for the Lady Eagles. Olympian rallied to make it a close opening set 25-20.  The Lady Eagles then spread their wings by winning the next three sets, 25-10, 25-21, 25-21 to capture the division title, the third in school history.

Senior Tierrah Santana called the comeback “just a lot of everything and determination.”

“We feed off energy all the time,” she said. “We carried all that and more to the last four sets.

“We do better when we have a chance to win. We took that and implemented in the game.”

“We just persevered,” sophomore Nyssa Dickson said. “We wanted to win because we were underdogs. We fought back with everything. It was amazing. It was nice to win the championship. It’s an amazing feeling.”

“After the first game, our momentum changed,” sophomore Makaila Johnson added. “We really wanted it more than anyone else. We just had to take it one point at a time.”

Olympian, which finished 6-0 in the Metro-South Bay League standings, opened the playoffs with a five-set win over 10th-seeded Central Union (21-17) by scores of 15-25, 27-25, 25-12, 23-25, 15-10, then upset second-seeded Mira Mesa (22-15) in five sets (24-26, 26-24, 19-25, 25-15, 15-8) in the quarterfinals before engaging sixth-seeded Foothills Christian (23-14) in a four-set semifinal pairing.

The Lady Eagles, who had to rally to avoid elimination against Central Union and Mira Mesa, emerged as 23-25, 25-10, 25-23, 25-22 winners to take on the No. 1 Lady Wildcats.

El Camino swept 12th-seeded Grossmont (23-11) 25-17, 25-20, 25-15 in the semifinals

The CIF championship is the fourth for head coach Yvette Macias and assistant coach Tamara Nunez, who won three as players (2014-16).

“The girls are talented. They mastered the challenges,” Macias said. “It’s amazing, it’s unreal, just like it was then.”

Olympian is losing 10 seniors but is bolstered by eight returners, including two sophomore starters (Dickson and Johnson).

San Diego Section Girls Volleyball Playoff Champions

Open Division: (1) Torrey Pines (37-4) def. (2) Cathedral Catholic (28-8) 25-22, 25-20, 25-21

Division I: (1) Scripps Ranch (24-15) def. (2) Carlsbad (24-9) 25-22, 25-23, 25-11

Division II: (1) Santa Fe Christian (20-11) def. (2) Patrick Henry (27-14)  25-12, 25-23, 25-19

Division III: (7) Olympian (23=15) def. (1) El Camino (30-12) 20-25, 25-10, 25-21, 25-21

Division IV: (2) Rock Academy (19-7) def. (1) Canyon Hills (16-8) 25-21, 25-22, 25-22

Division V: (1) O’Farrell Charter (21-5) def. (2) Mountain Empire (26-8) 25-13, 25-19, 21-25, 19-25, 15-10

Division V-AA: (1) St. Joseph Academy (12-22) def. (3) Cambridge School (8-11) 25-19, 17-25, 25-20, 25-20

Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents