Saratoga News

Sports

Falcons fall in second round of section volleyball playoffs

By Greg Lydon

With the first two rounds of the Central Coast Section girls volleyball playoffs in the books, the main question coming out of the Division I bracket is, can anyone stop Homestead?

The top-seeded Mustangs steamrolled No. 9 seed Milpitas 3-0 (25-7, 25-8, 25-21). Homestead will move on to the semi-final round where it will face off against No. 4 seed Salinas on Nov. 14, 5:30 p.m., at Santa Clara High School.

The Division II bracket was littered with local teams. Five of the area teams entered the brackets, but only two remain entering the semi's.

No. 11 seed Lynbrook was bounced in round one by a tough Palo Alto squad. Paly defeated Lynbrook 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-10) to win the battle of the Vikings. Lisa Yao had eight kills for Lynbrook.

No. 9 Leland hosted No. 7 Los Gatos, with the Wildcats punching their ticket to round two.

Los Gatos defeated Leland 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-12) to advance to face No. 2 seed Presentation. But the Panthers held serve, sending the Wildcats home for the season with a thrilling 3-2 victory.

The road doesn't get any easier for Presentation who will run into No. 3 St. Francis on Nov. 15, 5:30 p.m., at Santa Clara. That winner takes on the No. 1 Archbishop Mitty (27-3)-No. 4 Woodside (28-6) winner on Nov. 17, 4:30 p.m., at Independence.

Mitty took case of business in the bottom half of the bracket, defeating Mountain View 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-20). The top seeded Monarchs was paced by senior outside hitter Katherine Knox, who recorded nine kills in the winning effort.

Tori Arlid had 21 kills, but Westmont lost its opener 24-26, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 15-12 to Mountain View. The Warriors finished the year with a 19-15 season record.

The Division III brackets weren't as kind to the local teams as the three local schools were all eliminated in the first two rounds.

Cupertino and Willow Glen both were bounced in the opening round, while Saratoga advanced to round two before bowing out of the championships.

No. 10 Willow Glen fell to a red-hot No. 7 St. Ignatius 3-0. SI went on to bounce No. 2 Saratoga for the first major upset of the tournament.

Sophomore Nicole Gragnola and freshman Hanna Nielsen each slammed home 11 kills, but it wasn't enough as the Falcons were clipped 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-17).

Rounding out the Saratoga squad this fall were seniors Erica Baba, Jackie Gragnola and Vivian Wang; juniors Ashley Cole, Kiersten Dolbec and Kate Stewart; and sophomores Emily Baba and Chelsea Sabella.