Girls volleyball: Branson battles past Redwood in playoff primer
The Branson School girls volleyball team is about to embark on a postseason that, if things go the Bulls’ way, could see them making a run in the Open Division state playoffs.
The Branson School girls volleyball team is about to embark on a postseason that, if things go the Bulls’ way, could see them making a run in the Open Division state playoffs.
Redwood provided Branson with a pretty good playoff primer in the regular-season finale at College of Marin on Thursday night, taking a set off the Bulls and giving them a taste of the type of adversity that awaits in the coming weeks.
Branson dominated for most of the first two sets before Redwood emphatically punched back in the third. The Bulls seized back control of the match in the fourth set behind a dominating performance by outside hitter Elena Fisher in a 25-9, 25-18, 15-25, 25-16 victory.
Branson pulls away 25-16 to win it in four. #marinvolleyball pic.twitter.com/aJf6uxnXRC
— Ian Ross (@IRossMIJ) October 13, 2023
“Having them test us was super important going into the postseason because from here it only gets harder,” Fisher said. “MCAL semis and finals if we make it, then NCS and state potentially in open.”
The victory allowed the Bulls (22-4, 8-0 MCAL) to secure the regular-season title, locking themselves in as the top seed in next week’s MCAL playoffs. Redwood (24-5, 7-1) secured the second seed. If both teams win in Wednesday’s semifinals, they will meet again in next Friday’s MCAL title game.
Branson seized control in the first set on Thursday, holding Redwood to nine points – its lowest-scoring set of the entire season.
“We came out on fire with a specific gameplan and I thought we executed it really well,” Branson coach Michelle Brazil said. “When we’re at our best, our defense is relentless. That’s kind of what happened. … Our blocking was also suffocating.”
The Bulls continued to dominate through most of the second set, pushing their lead to 19-10 — at that point outscoring Redwood 44-19.
Redwood coach Jake Spain made some adjustments and the Giants gained a bit of momentum with a 6-0 run to pull within 19-16.
Branson won the next point when Fisher played a free ball with her back to the net. Despite standing well off to the left of the court, Fisher sent the ball low and over the net at an angle where it would have clipped the opposite line had it hit the floor. The Giants had to make a play on the ball but were unable to get it back over the net and Branson pushed its advantage to four points instead of seeing it shrink to two.
“I think at that point, I was obviously trying to keep (the ball) in,” Fisher said. “That was my easiest angle, if I’m being honest. The more you can make the other side think, the more opportunities you’ll have. It’s like a chess game in that sense. When they adjust to us, we have to adjust back so every little point we can make them think twice about is good.”
Fisher had two more kills toward the end of the set before Lauren Dignan closed it out with back-to-back aces.
Although the Giants dropped the set, the momentum they established carried into the third. Jaden Hendrickson (13 kills, seven digs), Madeleine Wagner (10 kills, 17 digs) and Katie Lazzareschi (15 assists, 13 digs) played their best volleyball of the night as Redwood surged to a 10-point win. The Bulls hadn’t dropped a set in league all season.
Redwood pulls away in the third, 25-15. Gaine kill makes it 2-1. First set branson has dropped in league #marinvolleyball pic.twitter.com/FIaofGKWji
— Ian Ross (@IRossMIJ) October 13, 2023
“The moments of aggression from our outsides were awesome,” Spain said. “(The Bulls) put you under a ton of serve-receive pressure and we had to feel comfortable feeling uncomfortable. When we started playing super aggressive up at the net out of system, the game started to go in our favor.”
Redwood held a 7-5 lead in the fourth set – extending to a 41-26 run since they trailed 19-10 in the second set. Then Fisher took over the game, swinging it decisively back in Branson’s favor as the Bulls closed out on a 20-9 run.
“Elena is super competitive so when people challenge her and test her, her response is to fight back and punch back and not just roll over,” Branson setter Logan Tusher said. “She talked to me and said how much she wanted the ball so I knew I was going to get that ball to her pretty fast and I knew she was going to score.”
Eight of the next 12 Branson points were won on swings by Fisher, usually thunderous spikes down the left-side line.
“Our middles and right sides did a really good job of taking the block with them,” Tusher said. “They couldn’t cheat to Elena because we had other people who could score. Once we set the middle, set the right side, it opened that up for Elena more.”
Fisher had a game-high 22 kills and had 12 digs. Tusher had 35 assists and 11 digs. Branson also got strong games from Sadie Snipes (14 kills), Cayman Stein (eight kills) and Dignan (18 digs). Celia Tolmie, Abby King, Tusher and Stein combined to create a formidable Branson block, particularly in the opening two sets.