After three great sets, Mater Dei Catholic’s depth finally wore Maranatha Christian down.
The top-seeded Crusaders took command in the fourth set and sprinted to a 25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 25-15 win over No. 6 Maranatha Christian to win the CIF San Diego Section Division 3 boys volleyball championship at Mira Mesa High School.
This was the first trip to the finals for both schools.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect this kind of match,” said Mater Dei Catholic junior Adrian Trevino. “They played us really tough. Pushed us.”
Crusaders senior outside hitter Oskar Manguy-Meza believed his team’s depth was the key to victory.
“At one point in the third set, I felt we felt we were wearing them down,” Manguy-Meza said. “We tried to push the ball deep. Tried to get them off their tempo. Their No. 8 (CJ Hays) was playing really well. We had to get him tired.
“Honestly, we were all tired. Our setter was so tired he couldn’t jump-set. But we reached deep inside and got it done.”
The first set was a back-and-forth classic with neither team leading by more than two before Mater Dei Catholic ran off three straight points at the end and won 25-22 on a rotation error. The set was tied at 14, 15, 16, 20, 21 and 22.
In set No. 2, Maranatha Christian ran out to a 9-3 lead before Mater Dei Catholic caught the Eagles at 9-9. It was tied at 10, 12, 16, 17 and 20 before an Armani Johnson kill gave Maranatha Christian a 25-22 win to tie the match.
Maranatha Christian’s CJ Hays had 11 kills in the set.
Mater Dei Catholic led 18-8 in set No. 3 before Maranatha Christian closed to 20-18. The Crusaders finally put the set away 25-20 on an Eagles ing error.
Trevino and Manguy-Meza took over the fourth set, both finishing with four kills as the Crusaders (29-10) led by 10 most of the set.
Trevino led Mater Dei Catholic with 14 kills, Maguay-Mez added 11 while Liam Kingston added eight.
Maranatha Christian (26-6) was led by Hays, who had 22 kills. Armani Johnson and JD Class had 11 kills apiece.
The Eagles made limited substitutions while Mater Dei Catholic substituted freely.
“Winning this means everything,” Trevino said. “We made history at our school.”
The Crusaders advance to the CIF state championships, with pairings to be announced Sunday afternoon.
