Santa Margarita girls volleyball tops West Ranch in battle for Division 2 title

NORWALK — Santa Margarita senior Memphis Burnett and her teammates had one goal in mind coming into this season: winning a CIF-SS championship.

They wrote it down on paper for emphasis.

The Eagles were pushed to a fifth set by West Ranch but were able to win the CIF-SS Division 2 title Saturday, winning the final 26-28, 25-21, 25-23, 13-25, 15-11 at Cerritos College.

Santa Margarita (24-10) won its first CIF-SS championship since 2016 and ninth in program history, and they did it in Chandler Gibb’s first year at the helm.

“I’ve known Chandler Gibb since I was 13 years old,” Burnett said. “I’ve been playing with him for years, so it was really special. It felt really like a full circle moment for me to be able to start volleyball with a coach like that. One of my first times stepping in the gym, being with him, and then, I mean, one of my last times playing at the youth level (today).”

The Eagles were led by junior outside hitter Ireland Real, who had a team-high 28 kills. Burnett, a team captain, added 15 kills and Kate Jackson chipped in nine kills.

Real credited her coaches for providing a calming presence heading into the final set

“In our huddle before the fifth, we were just like, we know we can be this team,” Real said, “and we know if we play our game and just take it, play by play, instead of trying to rush into it too much, we know we could beat them. They were a great team but I think because we focused on our side of the net more, I think that’s what helped us win.”

Junior libero Luna Magallanes registered six aces and 10 digs. Her play behind the service line helped the Eagles jump out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set.

“When that girl is on, there’s no one that can stop her,” Real said of Magallanes, “and it’s my favorite thing to watch her, and she’s been killing it all year. That energy switch was huge.”

“Luna’s just an energy ball,” Burnett added. “She plays well. We all just want to play to her level. She gets those scrappy digs. Her service game is on point. Every game, she’s such a consistent player that when she starts playing well, she just lifts up the people around her.”

“I mean, it gets a little squirrely in there, you know?” Gibb said of the final set. “You believe in your girls but you get just a little antsy. Going up 8-3 in the fifth, you’re like, ‘alright, I think we got it.’ And they battled back, but you know, you get that good lead, you start to feel a little bit better about it.”

Marley Remus (45 assists) and Mackenzie McDaniel provided great block defense at the net and then Jackson and Real provided the big swings at the end to close out the match.

Gibb expressed his gratitude as he soaked in the moment.

“Just grateful to God, grateful to the support staff, the admin was super awesome,” he said. “My coaching staff, and then these girls, you know, it’s coming in your first year. It can go a lot of ways, and everyone bought in right away, and it was really cool.” .