North top women's volleyball seeds advance, upsets give South mixed field for State Tourney
PASADENA - The North region's #1-4 seeds are heading to Fresno for the CCCAA State Women's Volleyball Championships on Dec. 2-4. The South may not have sent the most representative teams according to their seedings, but two teams return from the '21 tourney.
From the North, top seed San Joaquin Delta, #2 Feather River, #3 American River and #4 San Mateo won their regional finals on Saturday night while the South regional winners were #3 Moorpark, #5 Orange Coast, #9 Grossmont and #10 College of the Canyons, the latter two making their second straight trip to Fresno.
Here are mini recaps of the eight regional finals played (seedings in score, state rank in capsules):
NORTH
#1 San Joaquin Delta d. #8 Hartnell, 25-15, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21: The Mustangs (25-3), ranked #2 in the final regular season State Top 25, will make their 22nd trip to the state tourney with a four set victory over the #13-ranked Panthers. All-American Second Team OH Kiyah Irby rifled 22 kills (hit .349), All-State OH Savannah LeBarre landed 15 kills and made 27 digs, MB Raven Sula ripped 8 kills in just 10 swings and made 5 blocks while Angela Biazon made a season-high 36 digs and served 4 of the team's 10 aces. For Hartnell (21-11), All-NorCal Region OH Renee Nachtigall contributed 10 kills and 16 digs, Jocelyn Hernandez 10 kills and 3 blocks, and Karmyn Anderson made 20 digs and 3 aces. After Delta controlled the first set, Hartnell came on strong to tie it, but the Mustangs' solid defense (97 digs) and hitting (.311 as a team) proved to regain the momentum for Big 8 champion Delta.
#2 Feather River swept #10 West Valley, 25-14, 25-18, 25-21: The state #1-ranked Golden Eagles (33-1) extended their winning streak to 31 matches with a sweep over the Vikings, the Coast South champions but unranked in the final poll. All-American First Team setter Nellie Stevenson dished out 29 assists, 10 digs and 2 aces, Carissa Chainey ripped 12 kills (.400) and spun 4 aces while Eliana Sheridan scored 9 kills (.429). Flor Porras, the Coast South MVP, played well with 15 digs and All-Coast OH Kiana Manson scored 16 kills in defeat as West Valley's season ends at 14-10 with a 10-match win streak snapped. WVC led at one point in each of the three sets v. powerful FRC.
#3 American River d. #6 Sierra, 25-12, 25-15, 23-25, 25-10: The state #4-ranked Beavers (23-4) have become a regular at the state tourney and made that happen this year with a 4-set win over their Big 8 rival and #17-ranked Wolverines. ARC went 3-0 overall v. Sierra and extended its win streak to 10 matches. After Sierra extended the match with a 2-point, set 3 win, American River used a 10-point serving run by Kylie Matthews (14 digs, 5 kills, 2 aces) to allow the Beavers to roll to a 15-point, set 4 win and the match. All-American Second Team OH Awelina Fakalata continues to play like she did as a freshman in last year's playoffs as she blasted 27 kills (.296) and defended well with 23 digs. Shanaley Iakopo tallied 7 kills, 13 digs and 4 blocks, Sadie White 7 blocks (2 solos) and 5 kills, and Margaret O'Brien handed out 28 assists with 13 digs to aid ARC. Sierra (18-13) were carried most of the season by middle blockers Veronika Tupy (12 kills) and Rilee Macomber (8 kills).
#4 San Mateo d. #12 Cabrillo, 25-17, 25-18, 24-26, 25-14: History was made as the #5-ranked Bulldogs are making their first appearance at the state tourney with a 4-set win over the #19 Seahawks. CSM won for the third time over Cabrillo in a span of 37 days. San Mateo (22-3) hasn't lost since Sept. 10 (a 3-set defeat v. Feather River in championship final of the Delta Classic) in stretching its win streak to 17 matches. All-American Third Team OH Naomi Cremoux posted 19 kills, Valerie Bruk 11 kills and Ashley Chacon 14 digs for the winning Bulldogs. Led by the offensive play of Jazmyn Tubbs, Cabrillo had its season end at 13-11.
SOUTH
#9 Grossmont d. #1 Ventura, 22-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-21: In what many believe was the matchup of the top two teams in SoCal, the state #6 Griffins defeated the #3 Pirates in four sets to extend Grossmont's winning streak to 21 straight. Ventura (23-2) had a 10-match win streak snapped and played without First Team All-American setter Nevada Knowles (illness) after already losing two other regular starters in recent weeks due to injuries. Despite the short-handed lineup, the Pirates played valiantly to win the first set. Grossmont (23-3) went to work behind clutch kills by Aly Guise (7 kills) and tremendous defense from libero Lauren Dumo (25 digs). The Griffins outscored Ventura, 50-30, in the middle sets. In the fourth, Grosssmont grabbed a 23-18 lead, but Ventura tried one last rally to cut it to two before the Griffins punched a ticket to their third straight state tourney appearance. All-American Third Team OH Madi Bogle rifled 22 kills (.286), Chelsee Trendler dished 49 assists, and Brooke Miller collected 12 kills and 13 digs. First Team All-American OH Kayla Murdoch had one final great performance this season to lead Ventura on 24 kills, 3 aces, and 3 blocks. Also for the Pirates, Autumn Rojelio Moreno tallied 20 digs and OH Alba Ramanos Gracia subbed as a last-minute setter and set 22 assists.
#10 Canyons d. #2 Irvine Valley, 25-17, 25-22, 15-25, 28-26: The state #14-ranked Cougars (20-8) upset the #9 Lasers in four sets in another matchup that didn't favor a higher seed. After COC was impressive in taking a 2-0 sets lead, Irvine Valley (20-5) , the Orange Empire Conference champions, fought back with a 10-point win in set #3. In the fourth set, the Lasers seemed poised to force a 5th. IVC had set point at 24-23 on a block by Kendall Fraser and again at 26-25 on an Avery Bennett kill. Each time, Canyons responded as All-American Third Team MB Aly Grodell hit an overpass kill to tie it at 26 and then after an IVC error, she jousted a drop kill at the net for match point. For COC, Grodell scored 5 kills and 4 blocks while Kaelyn White was the main offensive power source on 16 kills (.394), Jordan Nunez totaled 9 kills, 24 set assists, 3 blocks and 2 aces, and Jacqueline Ibarra notched 9 kills. Leading Irvine Valley was All-American Second Team opposite Jayli Nealy with 12 kills and Chloe Swanson on 13 kills and 11 digs. The Lasers, who had an 11-match win streak broken, also got 22 digs from Gabi Brown. IVC's All-SoCal Region OH Tessa Marocco, who scored 18 kills in the team's Round 2 win over Bakersfield, played sparingly due to illness.
#3 Moorpark d. #11 Santa Monica, 25-21, 25-23, 25-27, 25-18: The state #10-ranked Raiders (18-4) exacted some revenge on the #21 Corsairs, who had rallied from 2-0 down to upset Moorpark in a 5-set thriller on Sept. 23--a match that SMC won in extras, 17-15. In this 4-set regional finals victory, Moorpark trailed 20-11 in the first set, but the Raiders roared back to outscore SMC, 14-5, to win the game. From there, both teams traded a number of runs with the Raiders winning by two in set #2, then the Corsairs grabbing set #3 in extra points, In the fourth, SMC ran out of rallies as Moorpark moves on to state. For Moorpark, Ryann Gaglio scored 11 kills and 4 blocks and Larissa Dakoske was steady with 31 digs and 4 aces. Santa Monica (19-8) was led by Rain Martinez with 9 blocks (3 solos) and 6 kills, Halle Anderson with 25 digs, and Mia Paulson 29 assists and 5 kills.
#5 Orange Coast d. #13 Santa Barbara City, 26-28, 26-24, 25-20, 18-25, 15-13: The Pirates (21-5) recently celebrated the 500-win milestone for head coach Chuck Cutenese and now he is directing state #20-rated OCC to its first trip to the state tourney since winning the state title in 2009. Orange Coast outlasted the #16-ranked Vaqueros (16-11) in a 5-set thriller, beating a SBCC team that scored regional wins over Saddleback and state #7 San Diego Mesa and had regular season victories over both Grossmont and Ventura. Santa Barbara battled back from a 24-19 deficit in the opening set, scoring twice on aces that lipped the net. The second by Ava Guenther gave SBCC a 27-26 lead and an OCC error allowed the Vaqueros a 1-0 sets lead. In the second set, OCC led 19-14 only to see SBCC ready to take a 2-0 lead at 24-22. Instead, OCC flipped the tables as Leah Thibault served back-to-back aces and a SBCC attack error gave the Pirates the set and evened the match at 1-1. Both teams again traded set wins to force a deciding fifth. The lead changed hands five times before OCC took a 13-11 lead on a pair of kills by Brisa Zapata-Reaves. All-State MB Paige Cutright scored a big block to put it at match point, 14-12. After a sideout, SBCC's ensuing serve sailed long as the Pirates celebrated a hard-fought regional finals win.
Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWVCA SID