Skyline girls volleyball falls in state final
Despite strong play from Fane Paua and Victoria Gonzalez, the Skyline-Oakland girls volleyball team fell short in the CIF Division V state championship match to undefeated Santa Clarita Christian 28-26, 25-15, 18-25, 28-26 at Santiago Canyon College (Orange County) on Friday.
The Titans (21-4) were the first Oakland Athletic League squad to reach the state final. Santa Clarita Christian (37-0), out of Los Angeles County, had swept 34 of its previous 36 opponents but had a tough time putting away the Oakland power.
Fane finished with 18 kills and Gonzalez had 12 for Skyline, which reached the final with a 25-18, 25-16, 25-22 win over Drew of San Francisco in the Northern California championship match Tuesday.
With Santa Clarita Christian leading 27-26, Skyline was whistled for a rotation error, cited by the referee as lining up incorrectly on the court, ending the set and match.
Four other Metro Area teams qualified for state-championship matches, including Hillsdale-San Mateo (27-2), which played for the Division I title Friday night against Harvard-Westlake (29-8). Results were not available by press time.
Hillsdale moved into the championship with a surprising three-game sweep at top Northern California-seed Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills, 26-24, 25-21, 25-16. Jessica Dean had 20 kills and 17 digs and Victoria Vanos 15 kills and 16 digs for Hillsdale. Setter Rianna Liu had 31 assists.
In Saturday title matches, also at Santiago Canyon College, Carondelet-Concord (26-12) faces Chino Hills (22-15) at 1:30 p.m. in Division III, followed by the Division II championship between Redwood-Larkspur (29-6) and Carlsbad (24-11) at 4 p.m. and finishing with the Open Division meeting between the nation’s No. 1 team, Marymount-Los Angeles (34-0), and 14-time state champion Mitty (37-7) at 6:30 p.m.
Carondelet, the top D3 NorCal seed, reached the final with a 25-19, 25-14, 25-15 sweep over Santa Cruz. Naomi Seivold and Avery Ehrlich combined for 23 kills for the Cougars.
Jaden Hendrickson had 15 kills, Kasey Mathews contributed 36 assists and libero Sophia Shaw added 14 digs, leading Redwood, the second seed, to a 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-19, 16-14 NorCal final win at top-seeded Clovis.
Mitty, which defeated West Catholic Athletic League rival St. Francis in four games for the NorCal Open title, now faces a team led by Stanford-bound players, setter Kelly Belardi and outside hitter Elia Rubin.
Football: Coronavirus issues have led to the cancellation of one North Coast Section semifinal game and postponed another, NCS Commissioner Pat
Cruickshank confirmed Friday.
Days after Arcata (8-2) forfeited its Division VI home game against Justin-Siena (6-5), a positive coronavirus test and protocols at Foothill-Pleasanton (9-2) have moved its Division II game at Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park (10-1) from Friday to 7 p.m. Saturday. The winner will face the winner of Friday’s Campolindo-Moraga (8-3) at San Ramon Valley-Danville (8-3) contest. Results from that game were not known by press time.
⏩ Sacred Heart Cathedral (4-7) will seek its third Central Coast Section final appearance at 6 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Mountain View (6-5) in a Division III semifinal game at Kezar
Stadium. The Irish, led by dualthreat quarterback Ray-John Spears and a rugged defense, last won a CCS Small Division title in 2008 before losing 21-14 in the 2011 D3 final to rival St. Ignatius at Oracle Park.
SHC moved into the semifinals after a 21-0 win last week over Leigh-San Jose. Mountain View, led by QB and safety Jackson Steffen, advanced to the semifinals with a 28-21 win over Live Oak-Morgan Hill. Steffen accounted for three touchdowns and had two interceptions on defense.