Pierce Defeats COC, 3-0, Advances To Title Match

State Championship Brackets

at College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita

Match 3—S1 Pierce d. S2 Canyons, 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-21)
Records: Pierce 31-1, Canyons 26-3

Despite members of the two divisions in the Western State Conference, Pierce and Canyons never played each other this season until Saturday's winner bracket final of the 2015 CCCAA State Championships.

Pierce played a tired Canyons squad, coming off a 5-set victory over Cabrillo completed an hour before, but the Cougars battled point-for-point with the state's top-ranked team.  By match end, it was Pierce sitting in the driver's seat in a quest for the state title with a hard-fought sweep.

Pierce, a 4-set winner over Foothill earlier in the day, used an outstanding .348 attack to offset a similar strong hitting night for the Cougars (.294). Pierce was led by Zaire Dartis, who ripped 15 kills with a .500 percentage and Chelsea Lawrence with 13 kills (.435) and three blocks. Another leader was Leanna Schott who scored 10 kills in just 13 attempts for a ridiculous .769 success rate. Rachel Lods set 35 assists and Bea Hernandez served three of the team's nine aces.

For COC, Emily Bible rifled 15 kills (.303) and Alexa Hesseldenz was a terror at the net with 10 kills (14 attempts, .714) and three blocks. Setter Katie Rutecki totaled 34 assists, eight digs and two aces.

Canyons led 13-12 in the opening set but Pierce won out after seven lead changes with Montana Shepard breaking a 23-23 tie on consecutive kills to close the game. In set 2, the teams had 15 ties but Dartis and Schott combined on a block and Dartis powered a back-line kill for a 2-0 sets lead. In the third set, Canyons' fatigue set in as Pierce broke an 11-11 tie and went on a 9-3 spurt. A block by Lawrence and Valentine Krivokapic finished off the sweep.

"We served well, we passed well and we hit very well in this win," said Pierce head coach Nabil Mardini. "We ended up facing and beating two of the best hitters in the state in Riana Brennan (Foothill) and Bible for Canyons. Our hitters Dartis and Lawrence came to play today. I think fatigue is always a factor and maybe it affected Canyons, but they are a very good team. We also played a war v. Foothill earlier in the day so both teams were playing second matches today. We earned our spot in the final. It's great to be back in this position."

Pierce is trying to win its fourth state title after winning three consecutive crowns from 2010-2012.

Canyons head coach Lisa Hooper talked about her team's appearance as the host of the state tournament: "We're just so happy to be here, and to beat a No. 1 seed like Cabrillo in the first match was more than I could ask. We hadn't seen Pierce before but I think we learned a little more about them tonight. We gave ourselves an opportunity to play them in the final. The format is such that I felt it was important to rest some of our players during this match so that they would be fresh and ready on Sunday. But I feel that we have a group of players that all can step in and make a difference for us."

Canyons will play the winner of the 10 a.m. match between Foothill and Cabrillo at 1 p.m. and the winner of that match will face Pierce in the finals at 3:30 p.m.

Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWVCA/CCCAA State WVB SID, rmlewis@pasadena.edu

photo by Richard Quinton