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There hasn’t been much that could rattle the Lakewood girls’ volleyball team this postseason, and even a Halloween night scare from Castaic wasn’t enough to spook the Lancers in Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 6 semifinal.
The Lancers entered Saturday having yet to drop a set in the playoffs, but found themselves with their backs against the wall in a dramatic 33-31 second set, fighting off five Castaic set points. That proved to be Lakewood’s biggest hurdle, as the Lancers kept their perfect postseason streak intact and punched their ticket to the CIF-SS Division 6 championship with a 25-22, 33-31, 25-14 sweep.
“I think that we just had to get over some nerves to start the matchup, and then I told them during that second set that we could really take control of the match by winning that,” said Lakewood coach Adam Wadley. “We knew that one play wasn’t going to win us the game, and we just took it one point at a time, and they did a great job at that tonight.”
Lakewood had another full-team effort on Saturday night, as setter Layla Bailey-Zavala led the attack with 26 assists and five blocks, while junior middle blocker Aaryn Hunter had a match-high nine kills on .800 hitting to go along with nine blocks. London Livesey added seven kills and five blocks in the win.
“It just feels amazing,” Hunter said after the game. “This is such a big accomplishment for this team, and to be honest, this entire playoff run I never felt like we were going to lose.”
Castaic carried a balanced attack led by outside hitters Leyla Buela, Amelia Conner, and Bella Flores, who mixed powerful swings with soft touches over the net to find success in the first two sets. Lakewood adjusted and finished with 25 total blocks, led by Hunter, who talked about the team’s blocking approach after the match.
“We just wanted to keep our hands on the ball,” she said. “Watching film on them, we just knew which spots they favored and where they wanted to go with the ball, so we just made sure to keep our hands on the ball, and it worked out pretty well.”
The Lancers have tended to get off to slow starts throughout these playoffs, but once again found their footing shortly after. Lakewood trailed 16-13 midway through the first set before going on a 9-0 run to completely turn the set on its head. Mialani Mapu led that charge from behind the service line, as the sophomore recorded two of her match-high six aces during the stretch to give Lakewood the lead.
“She missed her first serve in the first set, and I just told her to take her time. She’s had one of her better runs through the playoffs, and I just told her to hit her spots, which she did,” Wadley said of Mapu, who also finished with six kills and 11 digs. “We don’t need to look for aces. Aces will come, but we just have to make them earn their points every single time.”
Lakewood looked to have a comfortable lead in the second set after going ahead 16-10 near the midway point, before a 9-2 run from the Coyotes tied things up at 19 apiece. Castaic was well in system during that stretch, finding numerous kills from Conner and Buela as the two teams traded points and remained deadlocked at 23-23.
Another kill from Conner would then gave the visitors their first of five set points in the frame. Lakewood responded with its first set point after a Castaic hitting error and a kill from Hunter, before Claudia Janeczek fought it off with a kill. Lakewood then earned two more set points off a service error and a Jenna Smith kill, before an error and a kill from Conner gave Castaic another set point at 28-27.
From there, Lakewood fought off four consecutive set points thanks to a Castaic error, back-to-back kills from Livesey and a kill from Mapu that tied the set at 31-31. Lakewood finally closed it out from there, as Hunter and Bailey-Zavala combined for a block to earn the Lancers another set point before a hitting error ended the frame and gave Lakewood a two-set lead.
Momentum then swung firmly in the Lancers’ favor following the hectic back-and-forth, as Lakewood dominated the third set and opened the frame on an 8-1 run. Lakewood added another 8-1 stretch midway through the set, building a lead as large as 11 points before Mapu delivered back-to-back aces to set up match point, where a Castaic hitting error completed the sweep for Lakewood.
Just two years after reaching the semifinals in his first season as head coach in 2024, Adam Wadley has now led Lakewood to the CIF-SS championship match. The Lancers fell to Corona on their home court that year. This year’s championship appearance carries an even deeper meaning for Wadley and his father, Lakewood athletic director Mike Wadley, following the passing of Adam’s brother, Jared, earlier this month.
“We got one more, but my mom told me a couple days ago that Jared was going to make sure we play in the championship, and it means a lot, especially from her,” Wadley said. “Having my dad coach next to me on the bench has been really comforting too, just knowing that we still have each other wherever we go.”
Lakewood will now have a week to prepare for the championship match, which is scheduled for either Friday or Saturday of next week. According to the CIF Southern Section, the match will be held at either Cerritos College or a designated home team’s site, with the final details to be announced following Saturday’s results.
When asked about her message to the team heading into the championship match, Hunter had a simple answer.
“To play like champions,” she said. “It’s next point, goldfish mentality, and we’re not going to worry about any mistakes. Volleyball is a game of mistakes, so we’re just going to keep going each and every point.”
