For the third straight year, Saugus Centurions girls’ volleyball has exploded to start off the season.
Saugus swept the visiting Quartz Hill Royals on Tuesday, 25-13, 25-9, 25-14, to win its 10th straight match this season.
The Centurions (10-0) are still yet to drop a set and yet again brought home some hardware early after winning the Burbank tournament.
Saugus started 19-0 two seasons ago, won 16 straight matches last year and the 2024 squad may very be on its way to blowing by those numbers.
“I think we stayed pretty consistent,” said Centurion coach Zach Ambrose. “I like that, even though we got up in that second game and third game, we didn’t let up. We just did what we had to do. They’re bought in with senior leadership and they know what they’re supposed to do, and they help the freshmen. There’s a lot of cohesion on the court.”
Saugus kept Quartz Hill out of sync throughout the match with some tough, consistent serving.
Centurion senior Katelyn Nelson led with a match-high six aces. Saugus freshman Valerie Mejia also added five aces, most of which were picked up in two long scoring runs, where the Centurions kept firing away.
Mejia served well through the bulk of a 12-1 Saugus run to close out the first set. The Centurions led 13-12 before Mejia fired away to close out the opening game.
“(Mejia’s) a tremendous server and passer,” Ambrose said. “We have really good passing. That’s what we pride ourselves on this year and she’s one of them. We have four people that we run the ball through, and it’s very difficult to pick us apart offensively. We may struggle sometimes, just like everybody does, but that passing really does kind of alleviate a little bit of that and allows us multiple options.”
The Centurions again stumbled with some sloppy play midway through the second set but quickly shook it off. Leading 11-8, Saugus again fired ahead and closed out the set on a 14-1 run, with two aces in the game from Nelson and Mejia.
Nelson added three straight aces in the third frame to pull away from Quartz Hill.
On the net, senior Leila Ballard led Saugus with eight kills, while four other Centurions tallied up at least three kills. Ballard didn’t pick up a kill from the outside until the second set but showed again that she can hit all over the court, picking up points in the middle, right side and back row.
Setter Morgan Guardado kept the offense flowing but may have made her biggest impact on defense, where she was tough to hit around. Guardado nearly gave her back row the day off as she finished the night with five blocks. The senior also added 25 assists.
Senior Gabriela Cascione led the Centurions with 12 digs.
The senior corps of Cascione, Ballard and Guardado have been vital in each of the past three seasons. The three have Foothill League and CIF champion on their resumes but remain hungry for more in their last ride with the Centurions.
“CIF and league title is always the goal. However, we know we’ve got a lot of roadblocks in our way,” Ambrose said. “Staying healthy was the biggest problem for us last year, and we kind of fell apart halfway through the season, no fault of our own, just illness and injury. So this year, they don’t want that to be an excuse, and they want to make sure they take care of themselves and push through it.
“I think we have a little bit more depth this year that will help us if we do have an injury, so that’s kind of nice to have in your pocket. And you know, we’ve got a tough League. We have one of the tougher leagues around.”
Saugus was visited on Monday by four-time Olympian and former Centurion David Smith. The USA middle blocker let all of the players wear his bronze medal from Paris.
Ambrose saw similar success from the end line and from the poise of his team during the Burbank Tournament. Saugus ran wild through the bracket and ended the tourney with seven wins and an early-season championship.
“I think we just served and passed well, just like we did today,” Ambrose said. “The serving and passing got us through. They put pressure on the other team to have to make a play every time.”
The Centurions will look to continue the win streak on Thursday at home against Crescenta Valley with just two more matches to go before league play begins next week when Saugus opens up at Canyon.
“I want to see growth. Even though a lot of them are very good, we are nowhere near our peak,” Ambrose said. “I want to see us grow and reach our full potential and to make up for last year. We want to be ready to go at the tail end of the league, going into playoffs, knowing that we’re full strength and good to go.”
