CIF Prep Girls Volleyball: Poway High falls short in Division I title match

By Michael Bower

After the fourth-seeded Poway High girls volleyball team upset No. 1 Scripps Ranch in the CIF San Diego Section Division I semifinals, it looked like this might be the year the Titans would capture their first crown since 2003.

But waiting in the finals was No. 3 Rancho Buena Vista, which had just come off an upset of its own over No. 2 West Hills in the semifinals. And it was the Longhorns that stayed hot for the championship match.

For the second straight year, Poway had to watch another team celebrate a Division I title, as Rancho Buena Vista beat the Titans 3-1 (29-27, 25-22, 17-25, 25-18) to capture its first championship since 1996 Friday night at Canyon Crest Academy.

The Titans, which fell to Torrey Pines in last year’s Division I final, played right with the Longhorns (31-8) for pretty much the entire match. But Poway was unable to overcome 16 service errors and the outstanding ball control displayed by Rancho Buena Vista.

“RBV deserves it,” third-year Poway coach Breezy Ambort said. “That program always plays with heart and energy and that’s what wins you championships. I am happy for them because they were underdogs (in the semifinals), too. They have done a phenomenal job throughout their season as well, so they deserve it.”

For a good portion of the year, Ambort was not exactly thrilled with the way Poway (21-14) was playing. But once Palomar League play started, the Titans hit their stride and they knew the door was open to winning a Division I title with the newly-created, eight-team Open Division taking powerhouse Torrey Pines out of the picture.

“I think we had something to prove,” said senior setter Kelsey Horvath, who will play at DePaul University next year. “And knowing that we were in Division I and we had a chance to win and the opportunity to play well and advance to the championship turned things around.”

The Titans will lose eight seniors to graduation: McKenzie Hall, Kendall Sieber, Asia Pitzer, Horvath, Taylor Lapitka, April Luther, Danielle Isbell and Sydney Snyder. Ambort believes the group will remember much more than finishing runner-up in Division I two years in a row.

“I hope they cherish the experiences they got the last few years being in the program,” she said. “I hope they learned some life lessons … They will not remember the scores, but they will remember the team bonding -- sleep overs, lunches and the goofy things they did together. That is what they will remember; not that they lost.”

Horvath wrapped up her stellar career with 35 assists, while Hall and Taryn Atkinson had 11 kills apiece. Sieber chipped in with nine kills. Poway trailed 2-0 before giving its fans some hope with a 25-17 victory in Game 3. But the Longhorns used an 8-1 run to take control of Game 4 before putting the Titans away.

Still, to end your season playing for the Division I title two years in a row is nothing to hang your head about.

“It is definitely an accomplishment,” Horvath said. “I don’t look at it in a negative way at all. It is an honor to be here. Not every team gets to play in the CIF final. We played great volleyball and they just played better.”