CCS, NCS ladies volleyball roundup: St. Francis beats St. Ignatius to win CCS Open Division crown

PALO ALTO — There isn’t a extra unfinished enterprise left for St. Francis volleyball within the Central Coast Part.

The Lancers got here up simply quick within the CCS Open Division last final season. However not on Saturday evening at Palo Alto Excessive College.

Second-seeded St. Francis defeated fourth-seeded St. Ignatius 26-24, 25-13, 22-25, 25-22 in one of many extra epic four-set volleyball matches you’ll ever see.

The Lancers’ reward after such a hard-fought match? The well-earned spoils of their long-coveted CCS title.

“It was definitely a roller coaster, but it was one that was totally worth it in the end,” stated senior Grace Gowdy, who posted a close to double-double with a team-leading 17 kills and 9 digs. “We had the ups, we had the downs. But in the end, we came together. We played as a team, we trusted each other and we worked hard.”

The matchup featured wild momentum swings within the first three units. Within the first, St. Francis (28-5) jumped out to a 9-5 lead, then shortly discovered itself down 16-12.

SI (22-13) led 24-21 late within the opening set however squandered three consecutive set factors. The Lancers completed the primary set on a 5-0 run to take the early 1-0 lead.

“It went just about as we expected it to go,” stated St. Francis coach Lake Merchen. “We knew that they were going to play as hard as they could, and we knew what we were getting ourselves into in this match.”

The second set featured a 9-5 benefit in favor of SI, however issues flipped shortly in St. Francis’ route. The Lancers dominated the rest of the body, ending it on a 20-4 run.

“The urgency went down a little bit,” stated SI coach Saga Vae. “But you choose, ‘Do you want 20 more minutes of this game when you’re enjoying this crowd and being on this stage? Show some heart and put on a show.’”

The Wildcats responded to Vae’s message, leaping out to a 7-2 lead within the third set and holding off one other St. Francis surge to get on the board.

However the Lancers weren’t going to let SI do it once more. In a fourth set that was inside 5 factors all through, St. Francis emerged with the three-point win.

“It honestly means the world,” Gowdy stated. “Going to the CCS championship last year and not being able to finish was obviously hard. Being able to come back this year, being on top, coming off the court with our chins up was such an amazing feeling.”

Most exterior observers anticipated a rematch between St. Francis and Archbishop Mitty, the highest seed within the bracket and the favourite to repeat as CCS champs. Mitty had gone 4-1 in opposition to SI and the Lancers coming into the CCS event, with the one loss an early-season four-setter in Mountain View.

However St. Ignatius pulled off a stunner on Wednesday evening, rallying from two units right down to earn a 14-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-23, 16-14 reverse sweep.

SI had not crushed Mitty, which held a 14-12 lead within the fifth set, since 2018. The Wildcats had misplaced 13 consecutive matches to the Monarchs and had gone 2-35 in head-to-head competitors since 2006.

“The program is definitely changing,” stated Vae, who’s in his third season in cost at SI. “The mindset of this program is changing, so bigger things are coming. So WCAL, watch out.”

The long run might someday be lined in SI purple and blue. However this 12 months’s CCS trophy is cloaked in Lancer brown and gold.

– Christian Babcock

CCS Division III
No. 1 Sacred Coronary heart Cathedral 3, No. 3 Soquel 0

SHC cruised to the part’s Division III title, beating Soquel 25-15 in all three units.

Livy Tangaan and Sofie Daters every had 9 kills to propel the Fightin’ Irish to its eleventh CCS crown. Tangaan additionally led SHC with 18 digs whereas Madi Mullins had 12.

Senior setter Doris Cheung had 16 assists and freshman Caira Tasi led SHC had seven blocks.

The San Francisco faculty might be in search of its second state title in class historical past. SHC misplaced within the Division II state title sport final season in opposition to SoCal energy Campbell Corridor.

– Nathan Canilao

NCS Division I
No. 3 Tamalpais 3, No. 4 Campolindo 1

Campolindo fought exhausting, nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient to beat Tamalpais on the highway in entrance of a packed fitness center.

Regardless of a powerful effort within the third and fourth units, Campolindo fell to Tamalpais 17-25, 20-25, 25-23, 23-25.

The Cougars fell behind early, shedding the primary set in dominant vogue.

However their assault discovered its groove within the third set.

Campolindo constructed a 20-13 lead in third, however a powerful comeback from Tamalpais closed the Cougar result in simply 24-23 earlier than the Cougars pulled away.

Campolindo began the fourth set equally, getting an early 10-4 lead. However the Crimson Tailed Hawks flipped the script and went on a 10-4 run of their very own to take a one-point lead.

The groups went tit-for-tat all through the rest of the set, however Tamalpais held on to take a two-point set win and the NCS Division I crown.

Aveya Stone unofficially had 28 kills, a block and a serving ace to steer Campolindo.

– Nathan Canilao

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