Marin Catholic celebrates winning the third set against Redwood in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Molly Harrison (2) of Marin Catholic sets Mia Clayton (5) for a shot against Redwood in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Emily Greene (3) of Marin Catholic attempts to hit a shot past the defense of Kaley Mathews (9) and Lola Folk (10) of Redwood in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Brooke Brilliant (9) of Marin Catholic attempts to hit a shot past the block of Kate Giang (7) of Redwood in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Emily Greene (3) of Marin Catholic hits a shot against the defense of Jaden Hendrickson (15) and Lola Folk (10) of Redwood in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Emma McDermott (6) of Redwood attempts to hit a ball past the block of Molly Harrison (2) of Marin Catholic in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Emma McDermott (6) of Redwood hits a shot against Marin Catholic in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Marin Catholic celebrates their victory over Redwood in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Marin Catholic coach Jane Seslar talks with her team during a timeout during a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal against Redwood at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Redwood girls volleyball coach Diamond Hollis coaches her team against Marin Catholic in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Molly Harrison (2) of Marin Catholic sets a ball against Redwood in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Emily Greene (3) of Marin Catholic hits a shot past the defense of Lola Folk (10) and Jaden Hendrickson (15) of Redwood in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Emma McDermott (6) of Redwood digs a shot while playing against Marin Catholic in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Emma McDermott (6) of Redwood attempts to hit a shot against the defense of Mia Clayton (5) of Marin Catholic in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Kaley Mathews (9) of Redwood sets a teammate in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal against Marin Catholic at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Isabel Adam (10) of Marin Catholic hits a shot against Redwood in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Kate Giang (7) of Redwood passes the ball while playing against Marin Catholic in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Katelyn Mcknew (2) of Redwood spikes a ball against Marin Catholic in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Jaden Hendrickson (15) of Redwood attempts to block a shot from Emily Greene (3) of Marin Catholic in a North Coast Section Div. II girls volleyball semifinal at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California on Nov. 2, 2022. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Already down a set to Redwood on Wednesday night and sensing the second set was also on the verge of slipping away, Marin Catholic girls volleyball coach Jane Seslar called a timeout and delivered a message to her players.
“I told them bluntly like seniors, this is your last chance at Redwood,” Seslar said. “This is your last chance to knock them off.”
Marin Catholic found the spark it needed, getting key service runs from Isabella Do Arellanes at the end of the second and third sets, and rallied past Redwood, 20-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-20 in the North Coast Section Division II semifinals.
“I just knew deep down that we needed that run,” Do Arelllanes said. “I knew that serving was the way we could get them out of system. We focused a lot in practice on hitting zone 1 so I really focused on that.”
No. 3 Marin Catholic (23-10) is set to face top seeded Campolindo (24-7) for the section title at 7 p.m. Saturday in Moraga. The Wildcats have won seven consecutive section titles across three divisions since 2014 – the longest active streak in the NCS. Campolindo defeated MC in five sets earlier this season.
Against second-seeded Redwood, MC came out of the gate slowly, trailing for almost the entirety of the match before Seslar called a timeout with her team trailing 17-14 in the second set.
Arellanes had an ace to tie the score at 19-19, got another point on her serve on a hitting error by Redwood, then had another ace for a 21-19 lead.
“She’s such a good server,” MC setter Molly Harrison said. “I know when she subs in and goes back to serve that we’re getting points. I trust her in the back there. Serving is crucial and she just nailed it tonight.”
Redwood pulled within 21-20 on a kill by Jaden Hendrickson but MC was highly motivated to close out the set and climb back into the match. Middle blocker Brooke Brilliant had a trio of kills at the end of the set, including the winner when Harrison set her on a slide to level the match at 1-1.
“Brooke’s slides are just super consistent,” Harrison said. “She’s a great middle and I know I can just trust her in all plays. I think that’s why we run it well. We have a good connection on that ball.”
The teams traded points until the 11-11 mark in the third set. MC went on a 3-0 run to gain a bit of separation with libero Tehani Ulufatu at the service line. Redwood immediately responded with a 3-0 run to tie the set at 14-14.
Do Arellanes was due to serve next and ripped off nine consecutive points – including her third ace – to all but end the third set and swing the match in MC’s favor for good.
“She’s one of our stronger servers and she’s either on or she’s off,” Seslar said. “She did a really good job of not getting in her head and still going for the serve and not being afraid to miss. That’s why (her serves) were so tough.”
Redwood’s right side block had success early in the match with Hendrickson and setter Kaley Matthews stuffing several of MC’s attacks on that side of the net. The Wildcats found success by attacking the other side of the net, frequently with Harrison setting Brilliant for slides including another set winner.
“(The slide is) underrated,” Harrison said. “It can be used a lot more, especially when I’m front row, getting the block to spread out is really important. We need to have someone on the outside and on the right side. It makes the middle blocker have to move a lot, makes them late, makes them think, which is really important.”
MC pulled away early in the fourth set, getting a trio of kills and a big block from freshman Krystal Rose Huff while seizing a 13-8 advantage.
Harrison also made her presence felt all over the court with her setting and her defense. Harrison admitted after watching the film from the regular-season loss to Redwood that her defense in that game needed to be better.
“I knew coming into this game I was not going to walk out feeling like my defense was bad,” Harrison said. “I knew that I could go for every ball. Just because I felt so bad, so much regret after not doing it last time, I knew I had to do it this time.”
Harrison also provided some crucial points with kills to preserve MC’s advantage for the duration of the set. Mia Clayton spiked a kill that ricocheted off Redwood’s block and hit the court to finish off the match.
Emily Greene had a team-high 13 kills for MC. Brilliant added nine while Huff and Izzy Adam had seven apiece. Harrison had 35 assists, five kills, and finished third on the team with 10 digs – behind Savannah Ellison (12) and Ulufatu (11).
