Cate girls volleyball team celebrates winning the school’s first CIF volleyball title since 1991.
Cate hadn’t lost a set in a full match all season. Then came the opening set of the CIF-Southern Section Division 4A girls volleyball championship match against second-seeded Duarte at Cerritos College
The top-seeded Rams were unable to hold an early lead as uncharacteristic ball-handling mistakes and strong Duarte hitting from the outside gave the Falcons the early advantage. But Cate showed it has grit. And, when its Blue Crew rooting section finally arrived at the gym, everything in the team’s world was good again.
Cate regrouped and won the next three sets to capture the program’s first championship since 1991. The scores were 16-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-18.
“I’m so proud of everyone on my team,” said a overjoyed outside hitter Peyton Shelburne, who blasted a match-high 23 kills, hit .296 and added six digs to lead the Rams. “We put in so much work throughout the entire season and it paid off in this game.”
Once the Rams got that first game out of their system, they took control of the match. Setter Hannah Barr spread the ball around, which put more pressure on Duarte’s defense. Shelburne and Delaney Mayfield each had four kills in the set and Maddie Becker added three. The trio also had a service ace.
“The first game they really took us out,” Cate coach Greg Novak said. “We weren’t used to that type of game, roll shots, shots to the corner. I could see in our team’s face they were a little excited because (Duarte) had some big swings coming at them and a different style of offense and we just panicked.”
Coming back from a 0-1 deficit was new territory for Cate.
“We’re not used to going to four games,” Shelburne said. “Once we lost that one we realized we’re up against really good competition. We said we wanted to start fresh and treat it like another three games and we did.”
Cate poses with CIF-SS Division 4 championship trophy. The Rams defeated Duarte in the championship match.
Novak said it was a matter of his team calming down and focusing on what it does best.
“As we progressed, we slowed down, steadies and the players started coming back,” he said.
Duarte was hoping to push the Rams into a long match. It won its quarterfinal and semifinal matches in five sets.
“Cate has been beating everyone in three sets,” Sunabe said. “If we can get one and use the momentum to take it to five sets, we can pull it off.”
The Falcons took the upper hand in the third set, opening up a 7-3 lead behind the hitting of Kathy McKiernan (22 kills). Novak called time out to steady his team and it responded. Mayfield and Shelburne put balls away, Duarte committed back-to-back errors and the Rams whittled the deficit to 12-10. An ace by Mayfield cut it to one before the Falcons managed a sideout.
Cate was down 18-17 when Mayfield took over. She had a pair of kills and an ace to give the Rams their first lead of the set at 20-19. Then middle Xandrine Griffin got involved with a pair of kills, and Cate pulled out the win with its student section roaring its approval. The group arrived late because of traffic.
“We started feeling kinda good and then they showed up,” Novak said. “The girls lit up and they went off.”
The Rams came out on fire in the fourth set, building a 7-3 lead behind kills from Shelburne, Mayfield and Griffin, a block by Griffin and an ace by Ciena Smiley.
Cate’s defense seemed to pick up everything Duarte threw at it and the lead grew to 13-5. At 20-10, Duarte made a run, but Cate’s firepower and ball control were too much for the Falcons to overcome. On match point, Shelburne was blocked, but the Rams kept the ball alive and Barr set her again for the final kill of the match and a CIF championship trophy.
Mayfield pounded 16 kills for the Rams and hit .297, Becker had eight kills and 10 digs, Griffin added punch at the net with eight kills and two blocks and Barr recorded 51 assists.
Cate advances to the CIF Regionals, which begin on Tuesday. The draw will be released on Sunday.
