Font ResizeNicole Baker had 20 kills and Rachel Kinnard added 16 more as host Amador Valley High won the North Coast Section Division I title Saturday night with a 25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 25-17 victory over Granada. Kelsey Williams added 47 assists as the top-seeded Dons (29-7) beat the No. 2 Matadors for the third time in as many tries this season.
"Granada has played us three times now, and they did stuff to try to get at us and crack us," Dons coach Rich Cortez said of his East Bay Athletic League rivals. "But I knew we would be able to ride out how well they played before we got going."
Kelly Shaver finished with 11 kills and 12 digs for Granada (23-7). Lindsey Herbert added 11 digs and six kills.
Bishop O'Dowd d. Sir Francis Drake: With Sir Francis Drake's 25th and game-winning point seemingly headed toward the floor, Bishop O'Dowd's Rachel Stier wasn't ready to settle for a fifth and final game. The senior rescued the Dragons (35-8) with an incredible dig, and the point propelled them to a 25-21, 25-15, 20-25, 26-24 win and the NCS Division III crown.
"I didn't think I got the ball up at first," Stier said. "But once I saw it was up I knew we'd win the point."
Stier had 34 digs, none bigger than her final one.
"She's been a big part of this program and we rely on her to make big plays," Bishop O'Dowd coach Mike Gee said. "You just tell your players when it's close and coming to the end to be ready to
After tying the fourth game at 24, Jordan Pehanick had an ace, then Andrea Olsen put down the championship point with a kill.
It appeared a fifth game was imminent far before Stier's dig, but with the Dragons trailing 22-17, Molly Kennedy served six consecutive points to bring them all the way back. Olsen finished the match with 11 kills, while Lindsey Parrott, who had the assist on the championship point, had 15 kills and 12 assists.
— Matt Smith, correspondent
Salesian d. Marin Catholic: Malina Terrell had 18 kills, 12 aces and four blocks to help Salesian roar back from a two-set deficit en route to a 22-25, 17-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-11 victory in the NCS Division IV championship game on Saturday.
The fifth set was a tense affair with neither team leading by more than two points until the Pride (26-7) pushed out to a 13-10 lead. Terrell finished the game by spiking her 18th kill of the match, giving the school its first girls volleyball section title.
"Never give up, no matter what you do in life," Salesian coach Mark Apodaca said. "No matter how far down you are, every time you have a little bit of life, it's never over."
Salesian trailed 2-0 and was behind 11-7 in the third set before mounting its comeback against the top-seeded Wildcats (29-11).
"We starting passing more consistently and our setters were getting the ball to hitters more consistently," Apodaca said. "Before we were just swinging away and getting blocked. Our coaching staff reminded them to look for the holes in (MC's) blocks." Aine Stuart had 18 assists for the Pride and Carina Quintero added seven kills. Morgan buckler led the Wildcats with 17 kills and 11 digs.
— Dave Allen, MediaNews staff
SJS football
Millennium 33, Vacaville Christian 14: Millennium forced three critical Vacaville Christian turnovers on the way to an opening-round Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI playoff victory, the first for Millennium (7-4) in just its second year of competition. Two of the turnovers came on back-to-back Vacaville possessions in the second quarter. With 8:23 left in the half after driving 62 yards, Vacaville (6-5) coughed up the ball at the Millennium 2-yard line and Andrew Sanabria recovered. On Vacaville's next possession, Pedro Derobles grabbed an interception and raced 55 yards for a Millennium score. Richie Raya put the game on ice with an interception with 6:11 left in the game.
— Dave Campbell, correspondent
Girls tennis
CIF NorCal playoffs: Mission San Jose's run through the postseason ended in the California Interscholastic Federation/USTA NorCal semifinals at Diamond Hills Sports Club in Oakley with a 6-1 loss to Monta Vista-Cupertino. Monta Vista went on to defeat Saratoga in a 4-3 nail-biter to win the NorCal title. The lone win in the semifinals for the Warriors (23-2) was in the No. 4 singles match. Natsuko Takayanagi defeated Vynnie Kong 6-3, 6-1. Mission San Jose coach Bill Nandor felt that it was just an off-day after having so many great consecutive performances. "This has been the best tennis experience in my life," he said.
— Jason Eisenberg, correspondent
