La Costa Canyon High has become the powerhouse team in local girls volleyball in the last seven years.

The Mavericks have earned a spot in the CIF San Diego Section Division I championship match in each of those seasons, winning titles in the last five.

So when Pat McDougall replaced Ed Machado as head coach in 2007, there was enormous pressure.

The best team in school history, which had missed a shot at a state title by one loss, had just graduated.

All McDougall had to do was keep on winning with a brand new team, one that had gone 34-1 on JV for him in '06.

Two years later, that group of Mavericks also graduated, but not until they experienced a magical ride to the school's first CIF State Division I crown.

Along the way, they opened the season with 26 victories and finished it with 11 consecutive victories, including a three-game sweep of Cupertino Homestead to win the state championship.

McDougall, with his laid-back approach to coaching, managed to do all that on his way to a 37-1 record. That's why the 60-year-old was named as the Girls Sports Coach of the Year by the North County Times prep staff.

"Seeing the look on the girls' faces after we won the state title was priceless," McDougall said. "To see those kids excited was precious, and that feeling lasted for weeks.

"For the rest of their lives whenever they see each other they won't have to say a word and they'll rekindle that feeling again. It's a feeling every kid should experience. I've never felt anything that grand before. Winning the state title was a life changing experience."

The Mavericks lost just once and avenged that by sweeping Santa Margarita in the Southern California Regional finals on the road.

La Costa Canyon also beat such perennial powers as Long Beach Wilson, San Jose Archbishop Mitty, Louisville Assumption, Laguna Beach, San Clemente and Manhattan Beach Mira Costa twice.

PrepVolleyball.com named the Mavericks as the mythical national champions after winning the state title.

"I'm not sure I'm the best coach around, look at the talent I had," McDougall said. "But we've had good teams in the past and never won the state title.

"I let the girls play and have fun. As we kept winning tournaments, they believed we had a great situation going."

Sometimes coaching the most talented team is the hardest task.

McDougall made it look easy this season, especially after the team capped off his first season in 2007 by losing to eventual state champion Lakewood in the second round and then having PrepVolleyball.com push the Mavs to the No. 1 spot in the preseason rankings entering this season.

Halfway through the season, injuries struck. Natalie Hagglund, the CIF section player of the year in '07, injured her back and never fully recovered, although she did return in a limited capacity. Hagglund's replacement, Maddie Rudnick, sprained an ankle early in the playoffs. Nikki Chu, the team's libero, reinjured her shoulder in the Southern California Regional finals.

No pressure there. McDougall remained the same laid-back coach he was before the injuries began piling up.

It's a lesson that goes way back to when he played on the men's volleyball team at San Diego State. During his senior year, the Aztecs lost to UCLA in the 1972 national finals.

That five-game loss produced a sting that has stayed with McDougall.

When San Diego State downed Long Beach State in the '73 NCAA finals, that pain remained.

"That one loss motivated me throughout the rest of my life," McDougall said. "The players told me the next year, when they won it all, that they did it for guys like me who couldn't come back and play."

Two years ago, after La Costa Canyon lost to Lakewood, McDougall saw the same thing. Pain in his players' eyes and amidst all those tears.

He used that same pain to help his players realize their goals this year.

Even in the state finals, after the Mavericks won the first two games, he brought up the UCLA match when the Aztecs won the first two games and lost the next three.

"Yeah, we heard that UCLA story once or twice," said Katie Fuller, who will play next at USC. "Winning the state title with Pat sticks out as the most enjoyable moment for me.

"He knew we had a target on our back, but he kept us focused without beating us over the head with what our goal was.

"For this team, he was the perfect fit. He was what we needed because we were able to stay calm in almost every critical situation."

Including dropping the first two games in the section finals to rival Torrey Pines before roaring back to win yet another section crown.

"This team did not know how to lose," McDougall said. "That last match against Torrey was proof of that. While the people in the stands thought it was over and they were planning the celebration, the girls picked it up and won.

"I thought the dream was over, but these girls are so tough. I'm spoiled to have been around them now for the last three years."

McDougall's style reflects how, as a player, he wanted his coaches to lead.

"Coaches made a mistake with me when I played because they'd yell at me thinking I wasn't trying," McDougall said. "Same with the military and bosses. It's just the way I am.

"Coaching a sports team is not that different from the business world, and this team this year responded perfectly to it."

Contact staff writer Terry Monahan at 760-739-6648.