MURRIETA — Murrieta Valley girls volleyball coach Ann Romero-Parks had a feeling coming into Wednesday evening’s CIF Southern Section Division 2 girls volleyball quarterfinal match that her team would go to five sets against Orange Lutheran.

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Murrieta Valley’s Ryleigh Short (14) hits between Orange Lutheran middle hitter Kaley Houser (8) and Orange Lutheran’s Marley Robinson (3) during the CIF Southern Section Division 1 girls volleyball quarterfinal match in Murrieta on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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After the Nighthawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead, one would’ve thought that premonition unlikely. But Orange Lutheran, behind the powerful arm of former Santiago star Maylynn Mitchell, fought back to force a fifth set before falling to the Nighthawks 27-25, 25-17, 21-25, 19-25, 15-11.

No. 2-seeded Murrieta Valley (26-7) advances to play at third-seeded Etiwanda in Saturday’s semifinal round. Etiwanda was a 25-8, 21-25, 25-19, 25-21 winner over South Torrance on Wednesday.

Murrieta Valley remains perfect at 5-0 in five-set matches with the win and is 9-2 in matches that go to a deciding set. Miley Thunstrom finished with a match-high 22 kills and three aces to lead the way for the Nighthawks. Ryleigh Short added 17 kills and three aces, while Summer Tukua threw in 11 kills.

“I knew Orange Lutheran wasn’t going to go away quietly,” Romero-Parks said. “Throughout this year and all of these deciding set matches this group has shown just an incredible resiliency that was forged when they came in as freshman, playing in masks during COVID. They’re just a great group of humans and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

In the fifth set’s race to 15, Thunstrom gave the Nighthawks a 4-1 lead behind two kills and back-to-back aces. Mitchell had a kill which cut the Murrieta Valley lead to 9-8. However, Murrieta Valley stretched the lead to 12-8, as Thunstrom recorded three kills in a four-point span, and Cami Kenoi served up an ace. Ryleigh Short sent the Nighthawks to Saturday’s semifinal with one final kill that set off a Murrieta Valley celebration.

“After back-to-back fives it’ll be nice to have a couple of days to get ready for Etiwanda,” Thunstrom said. “We had to regroup after that fourth set and just remind ourselves to go out there and play fearless volleyball, which is exactly what we did.”

Murrieta Valley trailed 10-6 in the opening set after a kill from Orange Lutheran’s Saniya Kimbrough. However, the Nighthawks rallied to tie the set at 13 on a well-placed kill to the left corner from Short. The Lancers went on a 6-2 run and led 19-15 before Murrieta Valley rallied with a 6-0 run to surge in front. Thunstrom had two kills, and Kenoi added an ace. Thunstrom and Short had the last two kills as Murrieta Valley finished off their rally.

In the second set, Murrieta Valley jumped out to an 8-1 lead on two aces (one each from Melanie Hewlett and Thunstrom) along with a combo block from Summer Tukua and Naomi Barbosa. Orange Lutheran (28-13) served up five aces in a nine-point span (three by Jaedyn Houston and two from Marley Robinson) to pull within 16-13. Short ended the set with back-to-back aces as Murrieta Valley took a 2-0 lead.

“We’ve really had to learn how to fight for wins this year and from the start which has prepared us for the playoffs,” Short said. “Over my time here this is the closest team I’ve been a part of, and that closeness has given us confidence when we’re pushed to deciding sets.”


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