Playoff prep roundup: St. Francis and Mitty cruise in CCS Open volleyball semifinals, Foothill and Head-Royce advance in NCS

Girls volleyball

The two best girls volleyball teams in the Bay Area will compete for a Central Coast Section Open Division title on Saturday. 

Archbishop Mitty took down Sacred Heart Prep 3-0 and St. Francis defeated Valley Christian 3-0 to set up the fifth showdown of the season between the West Catholic Athletic League powers at Palo Alto High.

Archbishop Mitty 3, Sacred Heart Prep 0

No. 1 Mitty won 25-18, 25-23, 25-19 in a home matchup with No. 4 Sacred Heart Prep. Isabella Romero had a number of kills and played great defense on the right side, and coach Jon Wallace said Nicole Macalintal’s passing and defense “turned around” the second set, which SHP led 15-10 at one point. 

Wallace wrote in an email, “SHP played very well, but Mitty was able to dig some balls and convert them into points.” 

St. Francis 3, Valley Christian 0

Second seeded St. Francis cruised to a 25-15, 25-22, 25-19 victory, defeating No. 3 seed and WCAL rival Valley Christian for the eighth consecutive match. The time for the game vs. Mitty is yet to be determined. Mitty and St. Francis split the regular season series 2-2, and regardless of Saturday’s result, both teams will advance to NorCal play, where the programs could meet for a sixth time this season. 

Foothill 3, Amador Valley 1

No. 1 seed Foothill defeated Pleasanton rival Amador Valley 25-21, 17-25, 25-22, 25-18 to advance to the North Coast Section Division I final against No. 3 seed Marin Catholic. Paige Bennet had 22 kills, 14 digs and 10 service points, and Katie Salonga had 36 assists and nine digs. Kaycie Burdick had 12 digs and 11 kills, and Nisa Kincaide had four blocks and three kills. Foothill improved to 35-1, and will play Marin Catholic on Saturday at 7 p.m. 

Marin Catholic 3, San Ramon Valley 2

Marin Catholic will play red-hot Foothill after it slipped by No. 2 seed San Ramon Valley in a 25-13, 11-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-8 victory. Lucy Chertock had 19 kills, 20 digs and blocks in the marathon match, and Ellie Hunt and Sophia Vella combined for 19 kills and seven digs. Audree Vasconi had 20 assists and 12 digs, and Ali Cook had 18 digs. In an email, SRV coach Brian Fujinaga wrote. “Losing the first set in such a definitive manner really seemed to jump start our offense, but we couldn’t hold the momentum in the fourth and fifth sets.”

Head-Royce 3, Cardinal Newman 0

No. 4 seed Head-Royce advanced to the NCS Division IV championship game after it defeated top-seeded Cardinal Newman 25-19, 25-15, 25-19. Outside hitters Hailey Hilsabeck and Melina McKinney helped the No. 4 seeded HR rally from an early 10-5 deficit in the first set. Morgan Ross had several big blocks, and libero Natalie Kwon was a phenomenal passer for the Jayhawks. 

Cross country WCAL championships

Archbishop Mitty junior Evie Marheineke won the WCAL girls individual championship with a time of 17:55.1, and Sacred Heart Cathedral junior Miles Cook won the WCAL boys individual championship after running the race in 15:10.8.

Bellarmine’s boys were the highest-scoring team, beating out St. Francis 32-27. SHC’s Luke Moore (15:39), Mitty’s Liam Saxton (15:47.8), St. Ignatius’ Trey Wright (15:48.2) and St. Francis’ Matthew Mullane (15.48.9) rounded out the top five finishers.

St. Francis dominated the girls cross country race, beating Mitty 28-23 and ending with six of the top 10 finishers. After Marheineke, St. Francis’ Sabrina Zanetto (18.32.9), Caitlin Cilley (18.44) and Lauren Draper (18.49.9), and Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Alex Martinez (18.55) were the top finishers. 

Boys water polo

Newark Memorial 22, El Cerrito 9

Newark Memorial advanced to a quarterfinal showdown with Piedmont in the NCS Division II playoffs with a dominant victory over El Cerrito. Adrian Rosales led the way with six goals and three assists, and Miguel Medrano chipped in three goals, six steals and four assists. Noah Caron scored three goals, and Kanoa Sarino, Thomas McGrath and Sashreek Shrestha each had two goals. Bronson Beliso, Bryan Cao and Daniel Macias each scored one goal. Isaac Taylor saved eight shots. Newark Memorial coach Johnelle Cabading wrote in an email, “defensively the team played well, which helped to lead the offense to counter the other direction.”

Clayton Valley Charter 9, Alhambra 5

The Ugly Eagles will play at NCS Division II No. 1 seed Marin Academy after downing Alhambra in the round of 16. CVC jumped out to a 5-1 lead early, and senior Keegan D’Arcy led the way with four goals. Zeke Chapman scored two goals, and Evan Beaubian and Dominic Maffei each had one goal. Via email, Clayton Valley coach Gabe Martin said ”It was a tight game the rest of the way with Ruari Murphy, our goalie, getting 12 saves.”

Cardinal Newman 13, Livermore 11

Livermore’s season ended in double-overtime, but not before a pair of seniors put their names in the record books. Livermore coach Nathan Brandon wrote in an email that Nathan Thompson scored five goals and set a school record for goals in a season with 151. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Aidan Chirica saved 23 shots, including a five-meter penalty, to give him a program-best 416 total saves. Tyler Holm and Jacob Niles each scored two goals, with Niles tying Thompson for the team lead with three assists. Lance Dalida also scored a goal. 

San Marin 11, Mission San Jose 10

No. 10 Mission San Jose went on the road and gave No. 7 seed San Marin everything it could handle in the first round of the NCS Division II playoffs. Vinny Yao led the Fremont school with four goals and Ryan Kumar scored two. Elton Yu, Noah Lee, Kaidinh Tran and Justin Ho each scored a goal in MSJ’s first section playoff appearance since 2017. Coach Amy Tolbertson wrote in an email, “I’m extremely proud of the effort and heart these guys showed today! Although our season ends here, the future looks bright for our program.”

Girls water polo

Terra Linda 7, Alhambra 6

Alhambra’s season ended in heartbreak, with Wednesday night’s NCS Division II game taking three overtime periods to decide a winner. Alhambra coach Frank Reichert wrote in an email, “It was a well-played game on both sides. It is a shame someone had to lose.” Alhambra led 4-2 at the half, but Terra Linda took a 6-5 lead with three minutes left in the game. Alhambra equalized on its next possession, but after two scoreless overtime periods, Terra Linda won the golden goal period on a penalty shot. Julia Arrizon scored three goals, and Chiara Ke, Susannah Karbo and Izzy Cooley each scored a goal each. Frankie Schulze and Cooley had three steals each, and goalkeeper Zoe Jimenez had nine saves.