FULLERTON — When the Valencia and Fullerton girls volleyball teams took the court for the CIF-SS Division 7 championship game Saturday night at Fullerton High School, the two Empire League schools were matching up for the fifth time this season.
So, neither team was going to see anything from their opponent that they hadn’t seen before.
That was especially true of outside hitter Jasmine Williams, Valencia’s No. 1 attacking option.
Even knowing that Williams was going to be getting the most swings, there wasn’t much Fullerton could do to stop her. Williams had 20 kills as the Tigers swept the Red Hawks, 25-23, 25-20, 25-22, to win the Division 7 title.
It is the first CIF-SS championship for the Tigers (18-13) since 2006.
“I think the best part is doing it with this group of girls because it’s a mix of club player and girls who’ve never played club,” Valencia coach James Thorne said. “They’re awesome teammates. They work hard and battle every day … the greatest team ever.”
Williams had six kills in the first set and seven kills in the second and third sets, with a total of two hitting errors.
When the Tigers weren’t setting Williams, the ball went to senior middle blocker Addison Garcia, who finished with 12 kills and no hitting errors.
“Everyone was flying around making plays,” Thorne said.
While the Tigers led through most of the first set, the lead was never by more than four points.
Three consecutive kills, two from Katie Bae and one from Anais Amrani, gave the Red Hawks a 20-19 lead in the set.
Williams tied the score, then teammate Katy Pahl served an ace to give the Tigers the lead, which they held the rest of the set.
The Red Hawks (20-15) led 17-13 in the second set before the Tigers tied the score on two kills from Garcia and two from Williams.
Valencia then closed out the set with an 8-3 run, to go ahead 2-0.
In the third set, the Tigers led 20-13 and seemed on the verge of making quick work of the Red Hawks.
But Fullerton battled back and got to within one point, 22-21. The Tigers, though, went on a mini-run to complete the sweep.
“It’s taken a lot of practice,” said Williams, a four-year varsity starter. “I started off as a middle until last year, so it’s a lot different … the angle, the timing is a lot different. But thankfully because I’m a middle, I’m able to run a faster tempo, so it’s good.”
Williams plans to play volleyball at Endicott College, an NCAA Division III college in Massachusetts.
“She is just too good of a player for us to get her back in the front row,” Fullerton coach Maselino Pese said of Williams. “But that was our whole game plan, to get her in the back row and then go on a run.”
Heading into the championship, the Red Hawks and Tigers had split their four matches.
Fullerton swept Valencia in the Fullerton gym in a league match and won at Valencia in four sets in another league match.
Valencia defeated Fullerton in five sets in league play and in a tournament.
Both teams advance to play in the CIF State playoffs.