West County volleyballers will begin an all-important new season
this week, when both Analy and El Molino squads kick off the
post-season with participation in the Sonoma County League playoff
tournament.
Analy (22-10, 11-1) enters the SCL tourney as the league
champion and top seeded team, while the Lions (28-9, 7-5) are the
fourth seed.
At press time, the Tigers were preparing to host El Mo in the
SCL tournament opener on Nov. 2, with the winner advancing to play
either Casa Grande or Petaluma in the tourney title match on
Thursday, Nov. 4 at the site of the highest seed.
This Sunday, both teams are a lock to land high seeds in their
respective
North Coast Section playoff tournaments which starts next week.
Check the NCS website at cifncs.org
for complete bracket information.
Tigers fall to Dragons in finale
Analy’s bid for an undefeated league season was dashed on Oct.
28 in the SCL finale against Sonoma, as the visiting Dragons
prevailed in five games: 25-21, 25-19, 13-25, 10-25, and 15-11.
Leading the net battle were Briana Adviento (11 kills, 14 digs),
Courtney Covey (11 kills), Megan Winters (34 digs), Sierra Fiesel
(14 digs), Kirsha McElroy (7 kills), and Marla Petrucci (43
assists).
Two nights earlier, the Tigers turned back Petaluma in four
games: 25-19, 16-25, 25-18, and 25-17. Claire Sullivan led the
offense with 19 kills, while Covey (13 kills), and Adviento (12
kills) also turned in good efforts for Analy.
On Saturday, the Tigers took third place out of 32 participating
teams in the annual Northgate Tournament.
With a tough non-league schedule and seventh straight SCL title
under their belt, the Tigers may be primed for a deep post-season
run.
“I believe we’re ready for the SCL tournament and NCS,” said
Analy coach Nancy Williams. “I’m not sure what to expect seed-wise
for NCS because we have lost quite a bit this season, but we
expected to take our lumps early and get better as the season
progressed, which is exactly what we’ve done.”
Lions finish SCL on high note
The Lions are in the midst of a resurgent fall season, looking
forward to what could be a strong NCS Division-4 run, with sights
first set on winning the SCL tourney.
“We’re hoping to have a great match and beat Analy to move on to
win the (SCL Tournament) championship,” said El Mo coach Leslie
Grassl. “We’ve lost to them twice, but we know we are close and
might be able to pull off a win.”
Last week, El Mo wrapped up the SCL schedule with a four-game
win over Sonoma: 25-20, 30-28, 12-25, and 25-22. Pacing the attack
were Erica Gutsch (16 kills), Siera Taylor (14 kills), Emma Vierra
(7 kills), and Melissa Manni (5 kills). Other top performers were
Taylor Lunardi (35 digs), Vierra (20 digs), Taylor (16 digs), and
Manni (15 digs).
This Sunday, the Lions should be well regarded when the NCS
Division-4 seeding committee meets to decide their fate.
“We’re hoping to be a top three seed,” said Grassl. “We are 13-1
against Division-4 teams and hope that will help in receiving a
high seed. We are hopeful to get to the NCS finals and move on to
the Nor Cal championships.”
