The Cupertino Courier
Sports
Mustangs advance to NorCal semifinals
By Mike Barnhart
A volleyball match was played at Homestead High School last Saturday night, but the Mustangs' cheering section must have felt like it had been on a 2-hour roller coaster ride.
A huge sigh of relief went up from the Homestead faithful as senior Lauren Hoopes put away the final point, securing a victory for the Mustangs in a Northern California regional semi-final that started as a rout, but ended as a real nail-biter against visiting Amador Valley of Pleasanton.
With the 3-2 victory, Homestead earned a berth in the Northern California Division I tournament finale against Nevada Union (43-4), the Sac-Joaquin Section champion. The Mustangs were set to make the long trip to Grass Valley, northeast of Sacramento, on Nov. 27. They needed to return home with a victory in order to reach the state championship game, Dec.1 at San Jose State.
The home-court crowd had been boisterous as Homestead jumped to a two-game lead, rolling Amador Valley 25-12 and 25-16, but toned down a bit when the North Coast Section champion won two straight games to tie the match.
In game three, Homestead led 24-23, one point away from a three-game sweep. A large part of the Homestead student section started an "It's over" cheer, but the Dons got one over the exuberant supporters. A couple of mis-hits by the Mustangs and a violation gave the Dons a 26-24 win and life.
Game four was another close game that Amador pried away from Homestead's grasp. The Mustangs led 23-21, but the Dons scored four points in a row to win 25-23.
Matters got worse before they got better when the Dons bolted to a 10-4 lead in the fifth and final game, but Homestead scored nine straight points to go ahead 13-10. The teams exchanged points until Hoopes' final winner clinched the game and match 15-12.
Junior outside hitter Katherine Fischer was remarkable for the Mustangs, putting down 34 of the Mustangs' 54 kills and making two blocks. In game two, senior libero Diana Moberg served an incredible 11consecutive times.
Sophomore Tori Carroll had eight kills, Hoopes six, senior Allie Fickett five and junior Melissa Cheng four for the Mustangs. Senior Justine Wales added two kills and a block.
Cheng, who showed off her fine passing ability with 53 assists, had three service aces and Moberg tallied one.
Amador senior Sophie Dunworth, who recently signed a letter of intent to play at Duke next year, had 25 kills.
The victory, coupled with a first-round, home victory over Lowell of San Francisco, improved Homestead's record to 29-10. Coach Matt Hoffman played all 12 players, as his team swept the San Francisco city champion 3-0 on Nov. 20.
Fischer led the way with 12 kills and four aces. Fickett had a fine all-around game with nine kills, three aces and three blocks. Cheng (19 assists) split time at setter with junior Nicole Radish (14).
After beating Amador Valley, the Mustangs faced what likely was their biggest challenge of the season against Nevada Union, which advanced with a 3-1 triumph over San Benito.
Homestead and Nevada Union split a pair of three-set matches at the High Sierra Invitational in early September. The Mustangs won 2-1 in the first day if the tourney, but Nevada bounced back the next day with a 2-0 triumph.
