Portola captures victory in CIF quarterfinals, reaches semifinal round for first time

Portola’s girls volleyball team is off to the CIF DIvision 4 semifinal round. (Photo courtesy Portola Athletics).

The top-seeded Portola girls volleyball team swept North Torrance in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division 4 playoffs Tuesday night at Portola to advance into Saturday’s semifinals at home against fourth-seeded Vista Murrieta.

The winner of Saturday’s 11 a.m. match moves into the CIF finals either Friday, Nov. 6 or Saturday, Nov. 7 vs. the winner of the other semifinal between Santa Barbara and Glendora.

It’s the first time in the 11-year history of the program that the Bulldogs have reached the semifinal round, according to Coach Heidi Martasian. Portola has been to the CIF playoffs only three times in girls volleyball.

Portola opened the playoffs defeating Trabuco Hills in three sets Tuesday, Oct. 20, then defeated Burroughs of Burbank 3-1 on the road Thursday in the second round.

“We were able to complete our 3-0 sweep as a result of our tough serving and solid passing,” said Martasian of Tuesday’s win. “With our serving, we were able to take them out of system so that they could not get the ball to their two best players, their middles.

“With our passing, anchored by senior libero Camilla King, we were able to run our entire offense which kept their defense guessing. Our senior setter Jane Park ran a beautifully varied offense and gave our hitters so many opportunities to take a good swing.

“Zeynep Arcan, senior, and Rebecca Jeanty, junior were our middles: they had a number of defensive stops and were able to transition back to offense from defense very quickly. Julia Teijo, sophomore, was a kill leader for us on the outside and just kept moving the ball around.”

Portola (18-9) was the co-runner-up in the Pacific Coast League.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com