Mitty volleyball has big hurdle blocking path to state finals
If the sixth time is the charm, then Tuesday could be a good day for the Mitty girls volleyball team and coach Jon Wallace.
His Monarchs have faced West Catholic Athletic League rival St. Francis — which features his daughter Whitney, a starting libero — five times this season and have yet to win.
Then again, no one has beaten the Lancers (33-0), who are the top seed in the Northern California tournament and host second-seeded Mitty (30-8).
It’s one of six NorCal championship title matches Tuesday, all of which include Bay Area teams and begin at 6 p.m. The winners advance to the state finals Friday and Saturday at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
The other matches are No. 5 seed Branson-Ross (21-10) at St. Mary’s-Stockton (27-8) in D1, No. 2 University (28-6) at No. 1 Clovis North (27-10) in D2, No. 3 MercyBurlingame (26-9) at No. 1 Archie Williams-San Anselmo (19-6) in D3, No. 11 Head-RoyceOakley (33-7) at No. 9 Ripon Christian (33-6) in D4, and No. 11 Hanford (22-12) at No. 5 Berean Christian-Walnut Creek (23-9) in D5.
Both Open finalists swept their semifinal opponents Saturday.
Mitty eliminated Oak RidgeEl Dorado Hills 25-14, 25-18, 2523 and St. Francis breezed past San Ramon Valley-Danville 2519, 25-18, 25-20 behind 17 kills from Taylor Williams and 11 by Erin Curtis. Fran Hoeft had 36 assists and Whitney Wallace contributed superb defense.
“We played awesome tonight,” St. Francis coach Lake Merchen told SBLive correspondent Gordon Kass after the match. “This was the best we’ve played in the last few weeks. It’s going to be a battle against Mitty. We know them well and they know us well. I don’t think it could end in any other way.”
Said Jon Wallace: “Who else would you want to play? The two best should play against each other. It should be fun.”
Football frenzy
There were some fantastic first-round playoff games Friday. Among the best: Sequoia-Redwood City 51, Overfelt-San Jose 50: A remarkable back-and-forth Central Coast Section D4 game ended in the second overtime when Brody McKenna kicked an extra point after a Jordan Crockett touchdown run. McKenna had a 30-yard field-goal try blocked at the end of regulation to send the game into OT. Both teams scored TDs and converted twopoint conversions in the first OT.
John Larios completed 23 of 30 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns, and Jack Elgaaen had 10 catches for 180 yards and two scores for Sequoia (10-1). Luke Ulrich rushed for 67 yards and two TDs. Overfelt finished 9-2.
Mitty 29, Los Gatos 28: Former Los Gatos player and coach
Danny Sullivan, now coaching Mitty, went for the win in overtime and a Willis Towers-toDanny Scudero two-point conversion won the CCS D1 game. Towers had completed a 5-yard pass to Charlie Butler to close to 28-27. Instead of kicking for the tie, Sullivan and the third-seeded Monarchs (8-3) went for it, ending the season of the thirdseeded Wildcats (8-3).
A potential game-winning 30yard field-goal attempt by Mitty was blocked by Lyndon Bailey to send the game into overtime. Jake Boyd was 12-for-18 for 186 yards and three TDs for Los Gatos. Teammate Emiliano Mejia rushed for 158 yards and a score. Towers accounted for 233 yards and three TDs.
St. Francis 17, Sacred Heart Cathedral 14: Sophomore Kingston Keanaaina (165 yards rushing) scored on a 4-yard TD with eight minutes left, lifting the host Lancers (8-3) to the back-and-forth D1 win. SHC (6-5), the defending state 4-A champ, had taken its first lead on a 1-yard run by Oregonbound Jerry Mixon, who set up the score with an interception. Junior Fiaui had a 50-yard pick-6 for St. Francis and Kendric Sanders added a 43-yard TD run for the Irish. Foothill-Pleasanton 34, Vintage-Napa 28: Down 21-14 in this North Coast Section D2 game, Foothill (7-4) rallied behind two scoring passes from Eric Olsen, a 50-yard run by Chris Lawson (who added a TD catch), and a scoop-and-score from Conor Baesemann to pull out the home win over the Crushers. Vintage had a potential game-tying 15-yard touchdown pass fall incomplete in the final seconds.