Girls’ Volleyball: Phair helps Edison avenge defeat

For the second time in 32 days, Edison High faced Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in a girls’ volleyball match.

They met last month in Hawaii at the Ann Kang Invitational. Tuesday marked the next matchup between the two programs ranked in the top five in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll.

The latest contest took place in Huntington Beach, inside Edison’s gym, and it turned out much differently from the first. Having Hannah Phair around made a difference for the Chargers.

The outside hitter finished with 15 kills, leading No. 3-ranked Edison to a 25-17, 25-20, 25-17 sweep of the No. 5 Mustangs.

Phair said she missed last month’s semifinal setback to eventual Ann Kang champion Mira Costa because of a family wedding she attended in Alabama. The match was one of two for which Phair was unavailable during the tournament.

Since Phair’s return to Edison, the senior has helped the Chargers knock off both of the Ann Kang finalists — Santa Margarita and Mira Costa — this month.

“Definitely a big [presence] for us,” Edison Coach Matt Skolnik said of Phair. “She does a really good job in a lot of aspects of the game.”

Phair got the Chargers going early, and they rebounded after losing to San Juan Hills in the semifinals of the Dave Mohs Memorial Championships on Saturday.

Next for Edison (15-4) is another challenging tournament: the Durango Fall Classic. The two-day tournament starts Friday in Las Vegas.

“This was another test for us,” Skolnik said. “It was just a really good test for us to see kind of where our improvement is, and it’s kind of a good match to kind of lead into the Durango tournament this weekend.”

One team Edison can possibly run into in Las Vegas is Mira Costa, which is also competing in the tournament.

Mira Costa Coach Hayley Blanchard said she wasn’t pleased with the energy her team showed at Edison. It had been quite some time since the Mustangs played someone.

Mira Costa (7-3) went into Tuesday coming off a five-set loss at home to No. 7 La Cañada Flintridge Sacred Heart on Sept. 1. Early on in the season, the Mustangs have squared off with two section contenders — Edison and No. 4 Santa Margarita — twice.

The long layoff seemed to affect Mira Costa. After the first set saw four ties early on, the Chargers went on a 12-3 run. Phair caught fire during the stretch, recording five kills to help Edison go ahead, 16-7.

Edison’s Kristin Austin turned it on late in the first set, blocking a shot and recording two kills. Cassidy Dennison, who had 12 kills, put away the Mustangs with a kill.

Lindsey Sparks had 35 assists for Edison, and Dani Dennison had 14 digs. Maggie Gunther had four blocks.

“They didn’t [have Phair the first time we played Edison], but I think our energy was the difference,” Blanchard said. “We came out flat and they came out like they’re at home and wanting to win.

“We try to tell our girls to have the mentality that it is a different team, because [the Chargers] were missing one of their better players, and that it’s been almost a month now, so you can’t expect that because you won once that it’s going to happen again.”

The visitors made it close in the second set. Memphis Glasgow (eight kills) and Amanda Montag (seven kills) helped tie the set at 17-17.

The rest of the way, Sparks went to Phair, who pounded two straight kills. Sparks also had a kill.

“It was really nice,” Phair said of getting revenge on Mira Costa. “I had heard from a lot of my teammates what we were going to go up against, and we all played together pretty well.

“[The Mustangs] were really quiet the whole time.”