It’s Final Hurdle for Spartans

The South Torrance girls’ volleyball team emerged in early October from the South Bay-sized shadow cast by Manhattan Beach Mira Costa to hand the Mustangs their first Bay League defeat since 1984.

Six weeks later, the Spartans, seeded second in the Southern Section Division II-A playoffs, meet fourth-seeded Santa Barbara San Marcos in the championship match at 10 a.m. Saturday at Cypress College.

South Torrance (21-8) is winless in four previous trips to the finals, including three appearances in the past five seasons. Four years ago against Santa Barbara in the Division II-AA final, the Spartans led by two games and were ahead on points in the third when they unraveled and eventually lost in five.

“It has been hard,” said Coach Robert Kutsch, in his 10th season at South Torrance. “Anytime I talk to other people they say, ‘Well, you’ve got to win one title to really be on the map.’ ”

If that’s the case, Mira Costa qualifies for statehood. The Mustangs, who will play Temecula Chaparral in the Division I-A final at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Cypress College, have won 12 section titles and three state championships.

They dominated the Bay League for 20 years before South Torrance scored its shocking three-game victory in the league opener on Oct. 5. For the first time since any of the current players have been on the team, they say they have enough talent to win a section title.

“It was a big confidence-builder,” said outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin, who signed with UC Santa Barbara, of beating Mira Costa. “It made us have a winning attitude.”

The season didn’t sail along smoothly for the Spartans after their historic victory. Two days later, they lost in five games to Redondo, and four weeks ago, they lost McLaughlin to an ankle injury during a three-game nonleague victory over San Marcos.

South Torrance lost its rematch with Mira Costa and fell again to Redondo to finish third in league.

But while McLaughlin was rehabilitating her ankle, players such as Annie Meyers and Rachel Livingston helped to fill her role on offense. As McLaughlin returned to form, her teammates continued to contribute. Thus far in the postseason, South Torrance has yet to lose a game.

“In places where we’ve needed people to pick it up, they’ve stepped it up,” McLaughlin said.

In a 25-20, 25-15, 26-24 victory over third-seeded Irvine Woodbridge in a semifinal on Tuesday, Meyers had a team-high 19 kills and used her powerful jump serve to produce 10 consecutive winners during the second game.

When Woodbridge put together its best run in the third game, Meyers and McLaughlin combined for seven kills down the stretch to slam the door.

“We trust each other entirely,” said Meyers, who is close to securing an appointment to Air Force. “When we’re both on and we’re playing as a team, we’re unstoppable.”

The Spartans were expecting a third matchup with top-seeded Redondo in the final but learned shortly after their semifinal victory that San Marcos had swept Redondo. The initial surprise wore off in a hurry.

“And now, I’m worried,” Kutsch said.

“Anytime you beat a team three straight, you’re thinking, ‘Hey, we’ve got it easy,’ ” he said. “Until we win a title, it doesn’t really mean anything.”