Rancho Christian seeks its first section title

The Rancho Christian girls volleyball team will look to win the program’s first CIF Southern Section crown tonight when the Eagles make the trip to Temple City for the Division 5 section championship match.

Standing in the way of Rancho Christian’s bid for a historic win is Temple City’s Taylor Yu.

Yu is headed to Stanford as a setter but has been the nation’s most productive outside hitter this season. The 6-foot senior has registered 611 kills and is averaging a colossal 11.3 kills per set in the playoffs. Just as impressive, Yu is hitting at a .459 clip in the postseason and has only 21 attacking errors on 279 swings.

Temple City took down No. 1 seed Ventura in the quarterfinals and has dropped only one set in the playoffs.

Rancho Christian will counter with its own dynamic outside hitter, 6-foot junior Savannah Thomas, who is averaging 5.5 kills per set and hitting .370 this season. The Eagles are more balanced on the offensive end, with sophomore middle blocker Suzy Kemle chipping in 2.9 kills per set while hitting at a .401 clip.

Rancho Christian knocked off No. 2 seed La Reina in the second round and erased a two-set deficit in the semifinals and pulled out a 25-27, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-9 win over to Culver City to reach the final.

Eagles coach Luci Villafana looks to join a select group that has won CIF Southern Section championships as a player and later as a coach. Villafana, who is in her second season at Rancho Christian, was chosen the Division 9 Player of the Year after leading Cornerstone Christian to a section title back in 2019.