Senior middle blocker Francesca Gettings fought through a sprained ankle to lead the Malibu High girls volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over Ocean View High in the CIF Southern Section Division 8 Girls Volleyball Tournament last Saturday.
Gettings, hurt in the first game of the four-set match, frustrated the Seahawks throughout the competition as she knocked back opposing balls and spiked and tipped the ball over the net for the Sharks. The 6-foot-3 senior led Malibu in kills in the third-round tournament triumph. The home win was the Sharks’ 23rd consecutive victory and placed the team one win away from a matchup in the Southern Section’s Division 8 championship game.
Malibu coach Jenna Pierson said she is proud of her team for winning the semifinal matchup.
“We have never ever gotten this far in volleyball at Malibu High,” said Pierson, herself a former Sharks volleyball player. “It is a really, really big deal. Every one of my girls played hard and played together today.”
Gettings said advancing to the Division 8 final four is exciting, especially since the Sharks were defeated one game before the championship semifinals last season by Pomona Catholic.
“This is where we were last year, and this is the game we lost to Pomona,” she said. “To come this far and be this successful by doing what we needed to do to win was great.”
Malibu faced Capistrano Valley Christian on Tuesday in the semifinal match. The winner of that contest advanced to play the victor of the Upland Christian/Academy Buckley matchup in the title game.
Malibu’s victory over Ocean View, a Huntington Beach school, was a bit more difficult than their 22 previous wins. The squad was up by nearly double digits in the match’s first game when Gettings was injured. The 6-foot-3 senior landed awkwardly on her right ankle and fell under the net after tipping the ball over the net and outstretched hands of a Seahawk defender.
Malibu’s lead dwindled from 20-12 to 23-20 in a matter of minutes without Gettings. Ocean View recorded another point after a Malibu timeout, but senior opposite hitter Sophie Bassett increased the home team’s lead to three points when instead of spiking the ball over the net, she tipped the ball over softly with two hands out of the reach of diving Seahawks. However, Ocean View tied the score at 24, then won the game, 26-24.
Gettings limped back onto the court to the cheers of dozens of Malibu fans at the start of the second game. The game was close early, but after junior Skyla Tower scored three of four points in a stretch, Malibu had an 11-8 lead and never trailed afterwards. Gettings scored several points throughout the game the Sharks won, 25-19.
With senior setter Halle Dextrihe serving, Malibu grabbed an early 3-0 in the third game and never looked back. The Sharks led by as much as eight points before winning, 25-18.
Malibu was firmly in control of the match’s fourth game as well. Dextrihe’s rocket of a serve put the Sharks up, 3-0. Dextrihe’s teammates followed her lead and continued to pile on the points. Malibu’s leads included 10-5, 19-11, 22-16 and, finally, 25-21.
Pierson said beating Ocean View was Malibu’s toughest win of the season. The coach said after Gettings went down and Malibu lost the first game, she reminded the girls that they needed to defend their home floor. Pierson noted that Gettings’ return to the match and dominant performance afterward fueled the victory, but said the Sharks learned how to play without their best player.
“We never had to play without her this season, and the way that the other girls stepped up just showed that we are a whole team,” she said.
Pierson said she is proud of Gettings for blocking out the pain she experienced to continue to jump and spike the ball on the court.
“It shows her true character, her heart and her passion,” Pierson said.
Gettings said she returned to the contest to give her teammates an energy boost. She said she was just focused on winning.
“Even if I wasn’t making points or doing something,” Gettings said, “I feel like being there and just showing them I’m okay would help the team do better.”
A year after advancing to the third round of the playoffs and composing a 14-8 record, Malibu entered Tuesday’s game with a 23-1 record and a Frontier League championship under their belts. Malibu’s lone loss this year was to Chaminade on Aug. 22, the first match of the season.
Pierson said the loss was a result of how little practice time Malibu had together before the season started.
“That first game made us realize we must take this season seriously and not get too cocky,” she said. “We had to fight the entirety of every game.”
Malibu beat Simi Valley, 3-0, the second game of the season to begin the winning streak. Throughout the 20-contest winning streak in the regular season, Malibu’s opponents only won a combined seven match games against the Sharks.
Pierson said despite regularly beating opponents, 3-0, her squad never got lazy or complacent.
“They always give 100 percent effort,” she said.
Malibu defeated Milken, 3-0, on Oct. 30 in the first round of the playoffs. The group beat Trinity Classical Academy, 3-0, in the second round on Nov. 2, two days before going against Ocean View.
Pierson said she is proud of Malibu. The team is composed of 12 players, including seven seniors, most of whom Pierson has coached for four seasons.
“They have cohesiveness and chemistry from playing together these years,” she said. “They all really trust each other. Sometimes you don’t know if your teammate is going to have your back, but they know their teammates have their back.”
Gettings said she and her teammates all have fun together on the court and work hard.
“I’m really excited about where the season is going to go,” she said.