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As fans filed out of the Leland High School gymnasium following a CCS Division II girls volleyball semifinal Nov. 17, they were talking about one team's dominance over another. Then the dialogue shifted to the semifinal that was to follow.
"The next one is probably going to be the same way," one man said. "A quick and easy game."
"For who?" the man's friend asked. "Mitty or Presentation?"
"Mitty--easily!"
Archbishop Mitty did win the game, and the Monarchs went on to defeat Los Gatos for the Division II title three nights later. But Mitty's semifinal victory over Presentation was far from easy.
In fact, the top-seeded Monarchs appeared stunned following the first game. They had been outhit, out-defensed and out-hustled by the fourth-seeded Panthers. More importantly, they were outscored 25-21 in the first game of the best-of-five match.
Mitty jumped out to early leads of 6-1 and 7-3, before Presentation tied the game on a block by junior middle blocker Bridget McCallister and some fine serving by junior Michelle O'Keefe.
Mitty surged back in front, but Presentation came right back to close the gap, and so it went. The Panthers tied the game six times, before gaining their first lead (20-19) during a fivepoint run that put them ahead 22-19. After the Monarchs led 19-18, Presentation outscored them 7-2 the rest of the way.
Key points were nailed during the stretch by junior Lexi Hill and freshman Bridget O'Hara. Hill hit crosscourt from right to left around a Mitty block for one score, and O'Hara stuffed a ball back at Mitty's front row for another. Senior Jen Peterson added a service ace.
The defense and hitting that Presentation demonstrated in game one subsided in the next two games, and Mitty roared back. The Monarchs jumped out to a 9-1 lead in Game 2 and breezed to a 25-14 win. After Mitty won the third game, 25-12, Presentation seemed to regain its Game 1 form.
Using some nice set-ups by senior Darcy Carroll, the blocking of McCallister and Carroll, and solid all-around play by seniors Kiera Reilly, Zoe Beltz and Christine Dion, Presentation maintained the lead in the first half of Game 4.
The Panthers' last lead was 11-8 before Mitty scored six unanswered points. An ace by O'Hara and a combination block by Reilly and Beltz re-tied the game at 14, but Mitty scored three straight points and never was headed en route to a 25-19 win.
Presentation, which entered the 12-team tourney as the No. 4 seed, defeated Gunn of Palo Alto in three straight games, 25-17, 25-19, 25-22, to reach the semifinals. The Panthers finished the season with a fine 24-11 record, under the direction of coaches Steve Santonastaso and Chris Crader.
Other team members were seniors Alison Burke, Nikki Cochran and Sarah Lambee, juniors Francesca LeBaron, Liz Ronco and Catherine Furtado and sophomore Christy Maguire.
State x-country finals
The boys cross country team from Willow Glen will be busy over Thanksgiving weekend, competing in the CIF State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.
The Rams finished second in Division III at CCS, good for a state berth. Rams running at 9 a.m. on Saturday include freshman Mohamed Abdalla (fourth at CCS), sophomore Marcos Corona (sixth at CCS), junior Ruben Camacho (12th at CCS), junior Justin McArthur (14th at CCS), sophomore Samson Galato (18th at CCS), junior Robert Ramos (21st at CCS) and senior Jose Cervantes (30th at CCS).
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Photograph by Sean Penello