Palo Alto won its second straight Division I title, both by taking emotional five-game matches.
Photo by Jann Hendry
For the second year in a row, the Northern Region dominated, taking four of five division matches during the 2011 CIF State Volleyball Championships presented by Farmers at Concordia University Irvine.
Presentation (Division II) and Union Mine (Division IV) claimed their first ever State titles, Branson (Division V) threepeated and both Palo Alto (Division I) and Cathedral Catholic (Division III) recorded their second and third Championships respectively.
Division I: Palo Alto def. Marymount (Los Angeles) 25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 20-25, 17-15
Palo Alto Vikings (36-3) won their second State Championship after a thrilling five game match with the Marymount Sailors (33-5).
Melanie Wade led the Vikings with 27 kills and had a clutch kill that put Palo Alto up 16-15 in the final set. Marymount hit wide on the final point to give Palo Alto the victory. Marymount had led 13-7 in the final set before Palo Alto rallied to take the lead.
Kimmy Whitson totaled 45 assists in the win. For the Sailors, the duo of
Manon Greskovics-Fuller (17 kills) and
Lauren Greskovics-Fuller (49 assists) proved not enough.
MVP: Melanie Wade (Palo Alto), All-Championship Team:
Maddie Kuppe (Palo Alto),
Caroline Martin (Palo Alto), Lauren Greskovics-Fuller (Marymount), Manon Greskovics-Fuller.
Division II: Presentation (San Jose) def. La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 20-25, 20-25, 26-24, 25-15, 15-9
The Presentation Panthers (39-2), came from behind to win the final three games of the match and claim their first State title in only their second appearance, as they defeated the La Costa Canyon Mavericks (31-9).
The Mavericks held a 24-23 lead in game three with a chance to win the match, but Presentation won the next three points and proceeded to win the next two games for the title.
Presentation libero
Kathleen Bozzoo explained her team's early woes.
"We were really antsy at the start of the match," Bozzo told the North County Times. "Then we were able to relax and show that we came to play, too."
Emily Sklar led the Panthers with 20 kills, while
Madison Cooper (24) and
Veronica Bither (28) combined for all 52 Presentation assists.
Cosy Burnett led the Mavericks with 14 kills followed by
Natalie Bausback and
Brittany Abercrombie with 13 and 11 kills respectively.
MVP: Emily Sklar (Presentation), All-Championship Team: Veronica Bither (Presentation), Alex Sheredy (Presentation), Natalie Bausback (La Costa Canyon),
Jordan Robbins (La Costa Canyon).
Division III: Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) def. Albany 25-15, 23-25, 21-25, 31-29, 16-14
In their fourth consecutive State appearance the Cathedral Catholic Dons (35-4) notched their third State tile defeating first-timers, the Albany Cougars (36-7).
A veteran of the state finals, Dons coach Kelly Drobek felt good about her team's chances after falling behind two games to one.
"I was hoping if we could just get it to a fifth game we would now how to close it out at that point," Drobek told the North County Times. "We've had some good five-game wins over teams like Parker, Torrey Pines, and La Jolla County Day this year."
With Albany focusing on Catholic middle blocker
Morgan Cormier,
Tatiana Durr stepped up with 20 kills and
Lauren Miller added 31 assists. For the Cougars,
Kyra Holt tallied 22 kills, while
McKenzie Giblin recorded 42 assists in the loss.
MVP:
Kamila Tan (Cathedral Catholic), All-Championship: Morgan Cormier (Cathedral Catholic), Tatiana Durr (Cathedral Catholic), Kyra Holt (Albany),
Amber Erhahon (Albany)
Division IV: Union Mine (El Dorado) def. La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla) 25-18, 29-27, 19-25, 25-18
The Union Mine Diamondbacks (32-5), making the school's first State Championship appearance, defeated the defending two-time State Champion La Jolla Country Day Torreys (33-9) for the DIV State title.
Mikayla Tucker led Union Mine with her 30 kills on the day to earn MVP honors. Meanwhile
Lea Howton tallied 39 assists. For the Torreys,
Kendall Peterkin led the squad with 20 kills and
Annie Hasselmann contributed with her 38 assists.
MVP: Mikayla Tucker (Union Mine), All-Championship Team:
Maddy Berridge (Union Mine), Lea Howton (Union Mine),
Maya Hood (La Jolla Country Day), Kendall Peterkin (La Jolla Country Day)
Division V: Branson (Ross) def. Tri-City Christian (Vista) 25-12, 25-15, 25-21
Familiar foes squared off in the Division V championship match as the Branson Bulls and the Tri-City Christian Eagles met for the third straight year. The Branson Bulls (40-1) won their third straight State Championship as they defeated Tri-City Christian (27-14), which was appearing in its fourth consecutive title match.
Kathleen Wallace, who earned MVP honors for the second year in a row, totaled 18 kills. She also led the way in the third game when Branson overcame a 21-17 deficit with an eight-point run.
"At that moment I just felt this was the time to get it done," Wallace told the Marin Independent Journal. "I wanted it for all the hard work we put in this year. This was our senior year... I really wanted it for us."
Meghan Wentzel tallied 28 assists and two service aces and
McKenna Becker recorded three blocks in the Bulls victory.
McKenna Hollingsworth (11) and
Joy Reinke (10) combined for 21 kills in the Eagles loss.
MVP: Kathleen Wallace, All-Championship Team:
Sarah Wallace (Branson), Meghan Wentzel (Branson), Joy Reinke (Tri-City Christian), McKenna Hollingsworth (Tri-City Christian).
