Santa Margarita girls’ volleyball’s height and power carried the Eagles through its victory over Saugus.  The Eagles towered over the hosting Centurions on Wednesday, and put plenty of powerful swings away, but couldn’t knock out Saugus until the final fifth set.  Santa Margarita won the CIF Division 2 quarterfinal match, 25-23, 22-25, 25-13, 25-27, 15-11 in one of the most high-level competitive matches played in the Saugus gym in years.  Saugus (40-2) has only trailed in sets twice in the entire 2024 season, but overcame deficits twice on Wednesday to force a pivotal fifth set.  Saugus High School volleyball player Morgan Guardado (3) high fives her teammate after scoring a point against the Santa Margarita Eagles during their game on Wednesday evening at Saugus’s gym on October 30, 2024. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. “They’ve been down in club and we’ve been down in the summer,” said Saugus coach Zach Ambrose. “We played some teams like that in the summer, and we had to come back and do the same thing. So it doesn’t surprise me that they did that because they don’t know how to quit.”  The Eagles (22-13) were led by 6-foot, 4-inch sophomore outside hitter Ireland Real, who fired in a match-high 29 kills. Real added an ace off the tape of the net that put Santa Margarita up 7-5 in the fifth.  The Centurions closed down the gap and made it 9-10 with a dump from setter Morgan Guardado, but the Eagles rallied and a kill from Kate Jackson ended the night.  Saugus High School volleyball player Morgan Guardado (3) serves the ball during a home game against the Santa Margarita Eagles on Wednesday night on October 30, 2024. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. Real was tough to deal with all night as she added a pair of aces and two blocks as well as spearheading a huge 11-1 run in the third set.  “On defense, it was just a battle,” Ambrose said. “It was just: serve as tough as we can and try to keep them out of system and not let them set that high ball to the outside. When we did it we were able to convert in transition, and then when we couldn’t, she was just a little bit too big and a little bit too powerful for us.”  Real’s consistent serving led Santa Margarita through the only lopsided game of the day. The Centurions had an uncharacteristic passing performance in the third with numerous serve receive bumps being sent all over the court.   Saugus rebounded twice, starting in the second set. Santa Margarita outside hitter Memphis Burnett caught fire late in the game, where she added five of her 24 sets of the night.   After exchanging blows one-by-one from 19-19 to 22-22, Saugus pulled out in front. The Centurions closed out the set on a 3-0 run capped off by a Katelyn Nelson block to tie the match 1-1.  Nelson finished the night with seven blocks.  Saugus High School volleyball player Leila Ballard (2) hits the ball back against the Santa Margarita Eagles during a game on Wednesday evening at the Saugus gym on October 31, 2024. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. Saugus outside hitter Leila Ballard was crucial to the comeback as she added eight of her 26 kills in the second set. Ballard finished the night hitting .351% along with 14 digs and three blocks.  Saugus again came out firing in the fourth, where it took an early 6-1 lead. The Centurions fended off the Eagles early on before an ace from Santa Margarita libero Isabella Simon tied the set at 17-17.  Burnett fired down a kill to put the Eagles up, 24-23, and nearly close out the night in four, but the Centurions weren’t done yet. Ballard fired down a hard swing to force a deuce set.  Outside hitter Leah Taylor got her first kill of the set at the perfect time to put Saugus up 26-25. The sideout sent in freshman Valerie Mejia to serve in one of the biggest moments of her career. Mejia fired one of her many tricky serves, forcing a less-than-ideal receive on the other side. It’s hard to tell if the serve affected the play but the set was capped off by a block from middle blocker Ayden Jacobson and Kimora Hogains.  Saugus Centaurions Kimora Hogains (13) and Ayden Jacobson (7) try to block the ball against the Santa Margarita Eagles during a game on Wednesday evening at the Saugus High School gym on October 30, 2024. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. Taylor and Jacobson both added seven kills while Hogains tallied six.   “I’m just proud of the girls,” Ambrose said. “They took their lump, they took a shot, and they came right back and they were up in the next set. They didn’t let it get them down. I love to see that out of them.”  Saugus will now be idle until the CIF state tournament until the regional tournament in a few weeks. The Centurions will hope to end their season with a little more hardware, despite already having three tournaments and a league title under their belts already.  “I’m sure they’re gonna be sad after this game,” Ambrose said. “They want to win everything that they play. They have that fight and desire, but after a day or two, they’re gonna come back and I think it’s going to make them want to work that much harder and take a game or two in state, where it doesn’t get any easier.”  Saugus Centurion Taylor Stires (6) bumps the ball into the air during a game against the Santa Margarita Eagles on Wednesday night at the Saugus High School Gym on October 30, 2024. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. Saugus High School volleyball player Morgan Guardado (3) serves the ball during a home game against the Santa Margarita Eagles on Wednesday night on October 30, 2024. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. Saugus High School students and attendees cheer on the Centurions during their home game on Wednesday night against the Santa Margarita Eagles on October 30, 2024. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. The post Santa Margarita volleyball headed to semis, bests Saugus in 5  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.