ANAHEIM – The first CIF Southern Section girls volleyball championships were held in 1972.
On Saturday, Anaheim will play in a CIF-SS girls volleyball final for the first time.
The Colonists (16-12) play in their on-campus gym against Moreno Valley (16-15) in the Division 10 championship match.
The large majority of players on the teams in the CIF-SS upper-division finals have been playing club volleyball for years, as far back as when they were in elementary school.
At Anaheim, high school volleyball is often their first experience in the sport.
The Colonists finished third in the six-team Orange League with a 7-5 record. They opened the playoffs with a home sweep of Victory League champion Joshua Springs, then went on the road for a sweep of Hueneme in the second round, swept Rosemead at home in the quarterfinals and won 3-2 against Thacher in Ojai in the semifinals.
Colonists coach Jose Ceja said he has a light-hearted group on his roster.
“They’re really bubbly,” said Ceja, who also coaches boys volleyball at Anaheim. “They laugh a lot. They like to have fun.”
The bus ride to and from Anaheim’s win over Thacher were long ones. Thacher is 106 miles from Anaheim, one way.
The ride home was entertaining.
“I’d never heard the girls sing so much,” Ceja said. “I never knew we had so many great voices.”
Anaheim High opened in 1898 and is Orange County’s third-oldest high school after Santa Ana and Fullerton.
Anaheim’s gym is one of the few gyms around that has seating on platforms about 10 feet above the sidelines. Costa Mesa High has that setup, too, as does Santa Ana College. There are banners and signs from championships won long ago, like one that heralds the school’s 1926 CIF basketball title.
The Colonists players are excited to host a CIF-SS girls volleyball final in their cozy gym.
“We’re really hyped,” said Giselle Zambrano, a junior setter. “I’m proud of every single one of these girls. I believe in each and every single one of them.”
Senior libero Gina Garcia said the team is peaking at the right time.
“We’ve been playing our best lately,” Garcia said. “We’re applying new things every day to be the best we can be.”
Ceja had an inkling that Anaheim could have a long playoff run when the Colonists beat Los Amigos in five sets in an Orange League match.
“I thought, ‘Holy cow, we can do this,’” Ceja said. “After that game, the kids started believing in themselves. ‘Hey coach, we’re a good team.’”