American Martyrs School of Manhattan Beach claimed its sixth consecutive CYO girls volleyball title in November with a victory over St. Paul the Apostle of Westwood in the final played at St. Mary's Academy, Inglewood. The match was hotly contested by both teams who had met earlier in the season during tournament play. St. Paul the Apostle, the second seed and champion of the WAC Conference, came in confident and optimistic to challenge the top-seeded Mustangs, South Bay champs. The quality of play from both teams was exceptional and the girls battled throughout. In the end American Martyrs proved to have more firepower and took the match in straight sets to win the championship. The energy and excitement from the fans and players was high as the teams battled hard. The third place match pitted third-seeded St. Lawrence Martyr (Redondo Beach) against fouth-seeded Assumption (Pasadena). St. Lawrence Martyr took the first set and Assumption the second. In the exciting third and deciding set, the teams exchanged the lead several times before Assumption made a strong push and held off St. Lawrence Martyr for the win, 16-14. “All of these teams displayed impressive play and sportsmanship, as all the girls possessed great skills,” said Jim McGoldrick, program director for CYO Athletics. “Congratulations to all the teams and coaches for advancing to the final four and competing throughout the playoffs.”{gallery width=100 height=100}gallery/2012/1207/cyogirls/{/gallery}
