SOUTHERN SECTION 4-A GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Esperanza Finally Reaches the End of the Line

HUNTINGTON BEACH — It took a balanced attack, great serving, tough defense and about an hour for the Royal High School girls’ volleyball team to defeat Esperanza, 15-13, 15-4, 15-3, in the Southern Section 4-A final at Marina High.

As swift and stunning as Royal’s victory was, it came as little surprise to either side. Both had gotten to the final as unseeded teams.

Esperanza, Empire League champion, had had a surprisingly good year. It dealt La Habra its only loss of the season--the Highlanders won the 3-A championship Saturday--and finished second in the Orange County championships.

“I’m not disappointed by this,” said John Reid, Esperanza’s coach. “We won a lot of games all year we probably had no business winning.”

Esperanza appeared to have little business being on the court with Royal, and Royal made short work of the Aztecs. The first game was the only close one. Throughout the match, Royal used a balanced attack, with four players getting six or more kills.

Add to that serving that kept Esperanza scrambling the entire match, and you’ve got yourself a rout.

“I think the serving was really the key,” Reid said. “It really broke down our passing.”

And when Esperanza did manage to get a hit together, it was usually dug by Royal.

“I’m not surprised we dominated tonight,” said Bob Ferguson, Royal coach. “All the kids played so well. It’s been like that for the past three weeks.”

The fact that Royal was unseeded is misleading. The team shared the Marmonte League championship with Thousand Oaks, the division’s No. 1 seed, having split its league matches with them. Royal had also advanced to the semifinals four of the past six years.

“We’ve got a good program,” Ferguson said. “I think maybe some people found that out tonight.”

They did if they didn’t blink.