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Sports

Cari Klein Is Anchor of Sailors' Success

The Palisadian has turned Marymount High into a volleyball powerhouse.

Ask anyone who has ever played for Cari Klein what it takes to be a champion and they will answer in two words: hard work. The level of commitment she expects from her players is high, but there's a price to pay for success and no volleyball coach in Southern California has enjoyed more of that over the past decade than Klein, a Pacific Palisades resident.

Klein is the head coach at Marymount High, an all-girls Catholic school with an enrollment of under 400 students located on Sunset Boulevard, right across the street from the UCLA campus. Ever since she took over the varsity program in 1998, the Sailors have been a shining model for consistency, going undefeated in the Sunshine League 12 consecutive times, winning eight CIF Southern Section titles, five Southern California Regional crowns and five state championships.

The top-seeded Sailors notched Klein's eighth section title, and second straight in Division 1A, with a thrilling 27-25, 22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-12 victory Saturday night over second-seeded Corona del Mar of Newport Beach at Cypress College. Marymount had ousted Redlands East Valley in four sets in the finals last season, earning Klein her sixth CIF Coach of the Year honor.  

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Marymount's latest triumph was extra special for Klein because seniors and fellow Palisadians Lanti Moye-McLaren and Christine Irvin won it with her.

"I've known these girls since they were so little, before they ever started playing volleyball," said Klein, who also runs a highly-successful club progam, Sunshine Volleyball Club. "We have so much support from our alumni. All the seniors from last year changed their flights and flew back from college early just to be here." 

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A trademark of Klein's teams through the years has been their ability to rise to the occasion in crucial moments and the Sailors did so again Saturday, rallying from a 7-3 deficit in the decisive set. After a seven-point run gave the Sailors a 10-7 lead, Corona del Mar reeled off three straight to pull even at 10-10 before Marymount won four of the next five.

"One thing about this team is that they don't quit," Klein said. "They've been there so many times before and they started out very flat, but they just find ways to pull through. Lanti's really banged up, she has a bruised rib and can't do what she normally can do, but I couldn't take her out because she's one of our best passers. I'm so proud of her."

Moye-McLaren, an outside hitter, was one of the unsung heroes against Corona del Mar, lofting the ball over the front line for a touch kill that gave Marymount its first lead, 8-7, in the fifth set. A kill by Manon Greskovics-Fuller brought the Sailors to championship point at 14-11 and two points later a serve into the net set forth a wild celebration. It was a hardfought victory for the Sailors, who needed four sets to beat the Sea Kings (31-4) at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions in October. 

"I don't know if I slept on it wrong or what but when I woke up this morning it was really hurting. I had adrenaline and was trying not to think about it," Moye-McLaren said of her injury. "Christine lives five minutes from me [in the Highlands] and we've been really close since kindergarten. We don't wake up at 5 a.m. and drive to school for 5:45 practice for four straight months to lose. We do it because we want to win."

Irvin, whose older sister Kelly was a three-year starter and served two years as captain under Klein at Marymount and whose older brother Steven won back-to-back CIF titles at Loyola High and is now an outside hitter for Stanford, plays libero and she too wanted to make her last prep season count.

"Every year you work so hard that you feel you deserve to win it," she said. "This year the final was much more intense. We know what it felt like last year and we wanted that feeling again. The crowd was loud and seemed to be against us, but we feed off the cheers and that energy."

Asked what makes Klein such a successful coach, Irvin cited the faith she has in her players and the year-round preparation she gives them. Marymount has won so much that, despite its size, for that sport it has been moved up to the second highest CIF division, meaning the Sailors frequently play schools with up to 10 times the number of students.

"She knows how much potential we have and she won't let us underachieve," Irvin said of her coach. "She pushes us hard because she wants us to win and she knows how much we want to win."

Reloading year after year despite the graduation of key starters is one of Klein's biggest challenges, but she does it by developing her players' skills from a young age and nurturing the talent within her club program. Marymount volleyball is a rigorous road, requiring players to attend beach workouts and weight training all summer, early morning practices through the fall and sometimes late afternoon practices early in the season.

Also on the varsity squad is senior defensive specialist/setter Ashley Paillet, who attended Corpus Christi along with Moye-McLaren and Irvin. Team manager Shannon Crane also lives in the Palisades, as does team trainer Robert Kelly, who kept the players in shape and healthy throughout the year.

Klein graduated from Irvine High, where she led the Vaqueros to the volleyball state championship in 1988 and was awarded California’s Most Valuable Player Award. She went on to play at Pepperdine University and started Sunshine Volleyball Club in the fall of 1998. Under her direction, the club has earned over 100 bids to Junior Nationals and 18 Sunshine teams have finished in the Top 5.

Now that another CIF title is in the books, Klein and the Sailors are navigating toward a seventh state championship, a quest that begins Tuesday night when Marymount (29-4-1) travels to Los Angeles City Section Division I champion Granada Hills (24-11).

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