Harvard-Westlake Goes the Distance

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE — For the third time in as many years, Harvard-Westlake High went the full five games in a girls’ volleyball match at Flintridge Sacred Heart.

And for the third time in as many years, the Wolverines prevailed, winning an important Mission League match, 15-13, 8-15, 15-9, 5-15, 15-8, Tuesday night.

The Wolverines received their usual strong effort from Michelle Wong and Carissa Abbott, but Alexis Collins and Kim Parker provided the edge.

Collins delivered five of her 10 kills in the fifth game and Parker had eight kills in the match.

“This was a key game in our season to bring it up [a notch],” said Collins, a senior. “We’ve got the talent all the way across the board and we were able to bring it together.”

Collins had a block and a kill early in the fifth game and Wong added two blocks as the Wolverines (8-3, 5-0 in league play) grabbed a 6-0 lead.

Wong finished with 15 kills, five blocks and 10 digs.

It was nearly all for naught as the Tologs scrapped and scrambled within the friendly confines of their gym, which has a low ceiling and very little room to maneuver outside of the court.

Then there’s the noise factor.

“It’s really loud, they’re all banging on the floor, the sound is resonating,” said Abbott, who finished with 13 kills and five blocks for Harvard-Westlake.

“There’s some sort of aura going on here. It’s my last time playing here and I’m glad to be leaving.”

The Tologs (8-2, 4-1) may have simply run out of gas.

Megan Hosp had 19 kills and Danielle Dal Ponte added 17 kills, but Flintridge Sacred Heart used only one reserve player in the match.

“That’s something that we’re lacking, actually,” Flintridge Sacred Heart Coach Nancy Tinkham said. “We don’t have that much depth. I wish I had a subbing system, but I don’t. It’s one of our weaknesses.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart led the first game, 13-7, but the Wolverines scored eight consecutive points during Collins’ serve.

“We gave that game away,” Tinkham said.

Despite being without All-Southern Section selection Anne Jakle (sprained left ankle), the Wolverines did not panic.

“They showed they have character,” Coach Jess Quiroz said of his players. “They didn’t lose their composure or get the screaming meanies.”