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ORANGE — Chaminade girls volleyball coach CJ Suarez was wearing perhaps the most exclusive kicks on the court Saturday evening at Santiago Canyon College.
The pair of Undefeated x Nike Zoom Kobe 5 shoes had seen him earn many wins this season, and he wasn’t about to switch it up for the Eagles’ CIF State Division II championship match against Clovis North.
“If I’m going to go out in a championship match,” Suarez said, “I’m going to go with an outfit I never lost with.”
Chaminade worked to ensure those shoes saw not just another win, but also history made Saturday as it beat the Broncos in four sets, 25-19, 13-25, 25-19, 25-21, for the program’s first state title.
Suarez, a first-year head coach, built cohesion with his team over the course of a season that started in August and it showed in Saturday’s match. After the Eagles had stalled in three straight match-point situations in the fourth set, the coach called a timeout.
“They know what I‘m going to say,” Suarez said. “I look at them from left to right, I smile at them and say look girls, enjoy this. This is what we made. This is what we live for.”
On the other side of the timeout, the Eagles (40-3) orchestrated a play that ended with a Keira Brady kill to close out the set and the match.
Brady had a match-high 21 kills in addition to eight digs and four aces. Gabia Paliulus added nine kills and Kristin Alvandian had a match-high 17 digs.
Chaminade coasted to a win in the first set, then buckled in the second. It refocused in the third and used a six-point run that ended with a Gabia Paliulus kill for a 13-8 lead and enough momentum to beat the Broncos (28-11).
Seven seniors will graduate from Chaminade’s team this year. The group was close to making history last season, but lost in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 semifinals and then in the first round of the CIF State Division II Regional playoffs.
“Last year…it wasn’t meant to be,” senior setter Danit Cohen said. “This year, we’re a much better team all around. Coming together and creating a sisterhood, that’s what really set us apart from the other team.”
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Suarez remembers each of the team’s three losses this season and learned something from each of them. After walking in those shoes that have led him to so many wins, he’s ready for whatever comes next with some history attached to his name.
“When I got this opportunity to coach Chaminade, this was the year to (win a title),” he said. “All these girls, I knew they were capable of doing it.”