SOLANA BEACH — The Santa Fe Christian girls volleyball team hasheld the title of defending state champion for almost a year now,although the banner signifying it just went up on the wall in thecorner of the gym last week.
The pressure of being a favorite weighs a little more with eachpassing day as the Eagles prepare for another run at the statetitle.
Eight players are back from the 2003 Division V championshipteam, including starters Sarah Munoz, Alanna Resch, Abbie Wrightand Alison Grant.
Many players are the same, yet everything is different in ’04.There is a calm surrounding the team that has replaced thenervousness of last season. When talk of another venture into thestate tournament begins the Eagles don’t flinch.
Maybe a bit of that swagger comes from having lost the statefinals in 2002 to University of San Francisco and then besting thesame team in the 2003 finals.
The Eagles have replaced two players who graduated in EmilyRobinson, an All-CIF performer, and Katie Singleton.
“Last year we were still trying to find out how to do this,”Santa Fe Christian coach Diane Pascua said. “Now most of us knowhow.”
The Eagles definitely understand what the outside distractionslook like and what every gym sounds like when teams try tointimidate the state champs, how much more emotional teams andthose crowds get.
“I’ve kept the state tournament in the back of my mind allyear,” said Munoz, a 5-foot-11 senior middle blocker. “I’msurprised how quickly the playoffs got here because last yearseemed like it lasted forever.”
Santa Fe Christian, 28-6 after beating Tri-City Christian onSaturday for a third straight CIF Division V crown, opens its statetitle defense tonight at home against Valley Christian of SantaMaria.
The Eagles are the No. 1 seed this time.
They can only hope this year’s tournament is as rewarding aslast year’s, when the Eagles ousted Laguna Blanca of Santa Barbara25-16, 25-19, 25-23 and Immanuel of Reedley 25-18, 25-17, 25-17 toreach the Southern California finals.
That set up a road match at Central Valley Christian in Visalia.A nice drive to Central California turned into a noisyemotion-packed thriller.
“I thought we were prepared for that run last year,” Pascuasaid. “But in game four of the Central Valley Christian match I wasready to pack it in.”
Somehow, the Eagles got through that rough spot en route to a13-25, 25-17, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13 victory and a ticket to the statefinals.
“That’s where we found out that you can feel noise and we couldhandle the noise,” said Munoz, an Encinitas resident. “Thebleachers are right up against the court and everyone from the townis sitting, it seems, right in your face for two hours.
“After we won there I knew we’d be fine the rest of the way. Itfelt so good to win there, to hear how quiet the crowd got. Italmost felt better than the state finals because that match was howI always pictured a state final would feel like.”
On Dec. 6, 2003, Santa Fe Christian wasted little time withUniversity, downing the Devils 25-21, 25-16, 25-17 at CypressCollege.
“I knew how much I wanted to win and I knew how much Emilywanted to win,” said Munoz, who signed a letter of intent withVirginia Tech. “Losing the year before made everyone moredetermined. We didn’t want to walk off the court without leavingeverything we had on it. We didn’t do that the year before. Emilyand Katie left everything they had on that court that day.”
For Munoz, it was also the last time she was on the court witholder sister Rachel.
“It was one of my worst games ever,” Sarah Munoz said. “Icouldn’t hit anything right. I was kind of glad when it was over.Emily and Alanna lost it right away. Everyone else did tooeventually.”
This season has been more about staying in the moment and notfocusing much on the postseason.
Now, though, it’s time for the focus to switch.
“The state championship is where we’ve wanted to be all year andwaiting for it has made the season tough,” Pascua said. “There’s noother thought than that in anyone’s minds on this team. Can we getto the state finals three years in a row? That’s not an easy taskin a state the size of California.”
But it’s a task the Eagles have eyed every day.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” said Resch, who is ajunior.
But the Eagles would love to have another shot at it.
Contact staff writer Terry Monahan at (760) 739-6648 ortmonahan@nctimes.com.
