Another busy week led to more history for Saugus girls’ volleyball.  On Saturday, Oct. 12, the Centurions brought home their third tournament championship of the season after winning the SoCal Invite. Saugus then returned home for its senior night on Wednesday, where the team swept Castaic to clinch a perfect season of league play and an overall 38-1 record (12-0 in the Foothill League).   Saugus, to the surprise of few, now earns the top seed in the Division 2 CIF Southern Section playoffs.   There were no one or two things nor one player that fueled this team forward. Saugus coach Zach Ambrose’s squad passed, blocked, served and hit effectively and efficiently throughout a long 39-match season that may just be getting started.  For the offense, Saugus was led by senior Leila Ballard, a three-year starter, who reached a career high of 551 kills in the regular season, bringing her into the top three of the school record books. Ballard also finished with 316 digs, 72 aces and 42 blocks.   Digs are hard to come by with libero Gabriela Cascione on the court. Cascione has anchored the Saugus back row since her freshman season and became the school’s all-time leader in her junior year. This year the libero added team highs of 436 digs and 94 serving aces.  The Centurions’ other four-year starter is Morgan Guardado, a fierce pin hitter turned strong setter. Guardado was key two seasons ago in Saugus’ CIF championship season from the outside position. Last year, she put her swings aside and elected to help the team as its setter.   The star-studded senior class has been instrumental for the Saugus program on the court but Ambrose feels the program is still gaining momentum and will be in solid shape even when several of his seniors are off playing in college.  “The girls here now are young and they’ve got to experience their success by watching it,” Ambrose said. “Next year’s group knows that they’re going to have to work harder than they’ve ever done and put the time in to put themselves in a position to have that kind of success.”  Guardado missed some time with an injury but still led the team with 624 assists. During the setter’s absence, the Centurions needed someone to step up into the focal position. Junior Bailey Posey immediately stepped in and made a seamless transition into the starting setter role, helping Saugus win the Crescenta Valley Tournament, where middle blocker Katelyn Nelson was named MVP.  “When Bailey came in for us while Morgan was out, we didn’t skip a beat,” Ambrose said. “Things were a little bit harder, because she’s a little bit smaller at the net, but we still kept winning. Her setting kind of let us know that this is a team sport. It’s not just one person. Somebody gets injured and we’re very lucky to have some depth in a lot of positions that we didn’t lose a game in that stretch. We actually stepped up and we helped each other out, and other people played better. A lot of that credit goes to Bailey while she played. She’s still playing right now as a defensive specialist.”  Crescenta Valley was just one of three tournament stops and wins for Saugus this season. No matter how long the days and season went on for, Ambrose never saw his team’s competitive energy die down.  Saugus won the Burbank varsity tournament to start the season and was quickly 9-0 by mid-August.  The Centurions were only bested once this season and judging by the team’s 28 straight wins since, they don’t want it to happen again.  Saugus was dropped on the road in four sets at the hands of the Village Christian Crusaders, a team the Centurions could meet down the line in the Division 2 bracket.   No loss is a good loss, but Ambrose exited the match knowing what the team needed to work on. The 3-1 loss almost marked Saugus’ first sets dropped, let alone the match.  The Centurions had solid mental focus all year long, and were able to put away most opponents in straight sets, leading to a game record of 95-8.  Saugus swept West Ranch in the teams’ first go-around earlier in the season but the Centurions knew they’d be in for a fight come round two.  “The first West Ranch game, they just wanted it so bad, because they never got over that hump the year before, we just didn’t have enough to beat West Ranch,” Ambrose said. “Then this year, they were just so ready to go and they played flawless in that match. Then in the second game, we knew West Ranch was going to make adjustments. They played so much better than we did the first time, and then we were down, and found a way to scratch and claw to get ourselves in a position to win.”  The Wildcats pushed the Centurions to the only five-set match of the season for either team. West Ranch led 2-1 heading into the fourth game and 5-0 in the fifth set, but Saugus had an answer every time it was backed up against the wall.  Ambrose is hoping for the same results as in years past, where the big tournaments, Village Christian and West Ranch matches will pay dividends in the playoffs.  Coming into the season, Saugus looked like it’d take some strides with younger pieces to the puzzle. The team filled key positions with a pair of underclassmen ready to make their varsity debuts. Kimora Hogains has been one of the steadiest opposite hitters in the Foothill League this season while freshman Valerie Mejia has made an impact in the back row with 52 aces and 90 digs.  “We added Kimora Hogains, she plays opposite for us, she’s only a sophomore,” Ambrose said. “The numbers don’t really tell the story, but she really helps solidify the defense for us and comes up with timely blocks and kills. We added freshman Valerie Mejia and she’s just been a serving force for us right now … One of the components of what I like to do is just be the toughest-serving team on the court. We have six rotations where there’s no easy serve receive. I think that really helps us win points in bunches, and she’s been a big part of that. She has 52 aces on the season as a freshman.”  Saugus plays a long season so while the team awaited the CIF brackets, practice went a little lighter.  “We’re just trying to keep it light and fun right now,” Ambrose said. “We’ve been going since the third week of July. This is always that long part of the season because they’re so experienced and really it’s about staying healthy. It’s about keeping practice fresh and having fun, doing enough to get us ready, and then once we know who we’ll play, then we’ll start to put the work in and tailor practices towards an opponent. But really, it’s just a matter of keeping them motivated and enjoying coming to the gym every day.”  Saugus enters new territory on Tuesday when the team heads into the Division 2 playoffs. Multiple Centurions have a vast playoff resume but Ambrose knows the Division 2 landscape will be filled with challenges.  “Even though we’ve been there before, this is a brand new experience for us at the level that we’re going to play at,” Ambrose said. “You could play well and go home in the first game. So it’s really just about preparing and then being at your best when the game starts.”   Saugus’ .974 win percentage makes it clear the team doesn’t like losing. It could be another long postseason for the Centurions who would like their 2024 resume to read: Burbank Tournament champs, Crescenta Valley Tournament champs, SoCal Invite Champs and CIF Southern Section Champs.  “This group doesn’t want it to end, even (Guardado and Cascione), four years in,” Ambrose said.  Saugus hosts Marlborough on Wednesday at 6 p.m.  The post Saugus girls’ volleyball finishes regular season 38-1  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.