When it comes to chemistry, perhaps no group of players has ever had more than Harvard-Westlake’s girls volleyball team this year. With a lineup chock full of Pacific Palisades residents, the Wolverines added the exclamation point to their magical season last Saturday by sweeping San Francisco’s Sacred Heart Cathedral, 25-12, 25-12, 25-20, to win the CIF Division III state title at San Jose State University. Leading the way was Princeton-bound senior Cathryn Quinn, following in the footsteps of her older sister Kristin, who paced the Wolverines to a state championship as a junior in 2001. Cathryn, a St. Matthew’s graduate, finished with 13 kills and a finals-record .722 hitting percentage. Quinn, Alexa Bagnard, Marin Dennis, KC Kanoff and setter Katherine Sebastian have been playing together since the fifth-grade and their friendship extends off the court as well as on. Sebastian was brilliant in her final high school match, earning all-state honors with 31 assists, five digs and three kills. Dennis had 13 digs and was active in the back row long Kassey Kissick won the state’s sportsmanship award and clinched the Wolverines’ fourth state championship with an ace. Meg Norton of St. Matthew’s and Christine Waters of Corpus Christi also contributed to Harvard-Westlake’s title run. Norton, a sophomore outside hitter, finished with 10 kills and 12 digs. The Wolverines’ state triumph came several weeks after they won the Southern Section Division I-A championship, avenging last season’s loss to Marymount in the semifinals and beating Mission League rival Flintridge Sacred Heart in the finals. With a record of 30-4, Harvard-Westlake ended on a 20-match winning streak and equaled the school record for wins in a single season, joining Kristin Quinn’s 2001 squad.
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