The St. Margarets win the CIF-SS Division 3 Men's Volleyball Championship vs. San Clemente on Saturday, May 11, 2024 at Cerritos College in Norwalk. (Photo by Mindy Schauer of Orange County Register/SCNG)
NORWALK – St. Margaret's won the CIF Southern Section boys' volleyball championship again Saturday, defeating San Clemente in three sets, 25-22, 25-22, 25-20, in the Division 3 final at Cerritos College.
The Tartans won the Division 4 title in 2022, but lost to El Segundo in the Division 3 final last year. They won four titles in men's volleyball overall.
Reid Wainwright, a 6-foot-7 outside hitter from St. Margaret's College, had 22 kills evenly distributed over three sets: seven kills in the first set, six kills in the second set, and six kills in the third set. He recorded 9 kills.
San Clemente (28-7) and St. Margarets (32-4) have qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional Playoffs, which begin Tuesday. Regional slots will be announced on Sunday.
St. Margaret's is on a 16-game winning streak and hasn't dropped a set in five games in the CIF-SS playoffs.
It took a collective effort for the Tartans to beat San Clemente, which had won 13 straight games to start the game. Beckett Harvey, a 6-5 middle blocker, junior outside hitter Luke Balint and junior setter Aidan McMahon were among the key contributors Saturday.
Reid Wainwright ends St. Margaret's San Clemente sweep. @CIFSS Men's volleyball third division final. Score – 25-22, 25-22, 25-20 @ocvarsityguy @ocvarsity pic.twitter.com/cQiuw8bPYa
— Steve Flyer (@SteveFlyer) May 11, 2024
“It was a pretty good win for the team,” said St. Margaret's coach Bob Yoder, who played volleyball in San Clemente in the 1970s. He said, “He felt that if we could put pressure on (San Clemente) we had a chance.”
St Margaret's were under pressure late in the second set.
San Clemente, led by senior outside hitter Kai Schmidt and senior middle blocker Will Whidden, led 20-16. The Tartans then went on a 7-1 run thanks to three powerful spikes from Wainwright, taking a 23-21 lead over the Eagles.
“That put pressure on them,” said Wainwright, who like Schmidt also signed with Stanford.
St. Margaret's advanced to the second set 25-22.
The Tartans continued to fall behind in the third set. They trailed 8-5, but with several kills from Wainwright and a kill and an ace from Balint, they made another run and took the third set 25-20 to complete the sweep.
Yoder said the players' experience from previous finals was helpful.
“They've been to the finals three years in a row,” he said. “We won the championship two years ago. I think we played comfortably.”
Mr Wainwright said Tartans had reached its peak in recent weeks.
“We definitely stepped up every game in the playoffs,” he said.