Prep roundup: St. Francis, Archbishop Mitty, St. Ignatius advance to CIF NorCal volleyball semifinals

Girls volleyball

No. 2 St. Francis 3, No. 7 St. Mary’s-Stockton 0

The Open Division’s second seed made quick work of visiting St. Mary’s-Stockton, dispatching the Rams 25-21, 25-23, 25-18 in Mountain View. Among the outstanding players for the Lancers were senior Grace Gowdy, junior setter Riley Barulich, Syriana Messy, and Jaemysen Martin. St. Francis, winners of nine matches in a row and the CCS Open Division champs, improved to 29-5 on the season. The Lancers will play host to No. 3 St. Ignatius in the semifinals on Saturday in a rematch of the CCS Open championship.

No. 5 Archbishop Mitty 3, No. 4 Marin Catholic 0

In Mitty’s first match since being upset by St. Ignatius in the CCS Open playoffs, the Monarchs looked like a team wanting to prove that result was just a fluke in a 25-18, 27-25, 25-13 sweep of host Marin Catholic. After a tight second set, Mitty dominated the third, going up 16-4 at one point. Junior outside hitter Makenna Crosson, libero Nicole Macalintal, senior Isabella Romero and fellow front line partner Jasmine Shum. Mitty improved to 27-6 and will play host to No. 8 Rocklin-Sacramento on Saturday. Legendary Rocklin coach Bret Almazan-Cezar will return to the South Bay. Almazan-Cezar led the Monarchs to 11 state titles over the course of two decades in charge of the WCAL program. 

No. 3 St. Ignatius 3, No. 6 Clovis North 2

Carol Manu and Eileen Pfeffer combined for an emphatic game-winning block to clinch a thrilling 26-24, 28-30, 25-22, 22-25, 20-18 victory over visiting Clovis North. Senior libero Elise Lau also made a number of big plays down the stretch for the Wildcats, who will take on St. Francis in a rematch of last week’s CCS Open title matchup. St. Ignatius improved to 24-13 on the season. 

No. 8 Rocklin-Sacramento 3, No. 1 Branson 1

Visiting Rocklin pulled off the stunner in the North Bay, taking down the top seed 25-22, 16-25, 25-23, 25-21 and clinching a trip to Mitty. Freshman Summer Maunder’s block clinched the upset victory in the fourth set. Rocklin improved to 38-5, while Branson ended its season 22-5. It was Branson’s first home loss since a 2-0 defeat to Marin Catholic on Sept. 7. 

SoCal scores

No. 1 seed Cathedral Catholic-San Diego cruised past Los Alamitos 3-0 in its opener and improved to 43-3. … Cathedral will play host to No. 4 Redondo Union-Redondo Beach, which defeated Marymount 25-20, 23-25, 28-30, 25-9, 15-10. … Defending state champion and No. 2 seed Mater Dei-Santa Ana avoided the upset against Torrey Pines. The Monarchs lost the first two sets before rallying and winning 3-2. … No. 3 Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth pulled off a similar comeback against Mira Costa-Manhattan Beach in a 23-25, 22-25, 28-26, 25-23, 15-7 victory. Sierra Canyon will travel to Mater Dei for the semifinal. 

Girls water polo

Las Lomas 6, Tamalpais 1

The Knights clinched their spot in the NCS Division I championship with a victory over Tamalpais. Lily Palma scored three goals and had two steals, and Makena Dietschy scored twice. Abby Peng bagged one goal ,and freshman Ella Abbott had two assists and three steals. Senior Addison Burns was stellar between the sticks, saving 16 shots and even dishing out one assist.

Boys water polo

Campolindo 13, Archie Williams 8

Hayden O’Hare scored five goals to lead the Cougars to victory in the NCS Open Division third-place game. Will Maguy scored twice, as did senior Dylan King. Cade O’Hare, Jack Elder and Eli Levenfeld all scored once for the Moraga program, which will play in the NorCal playoffs next week. 

Leland 14, Pioneer 7

Luke Raimondi did it all for Leland –  four goals, four assists, five field blocks and five steals – as Leland advanced to a CCS water polo championship match. Goalkeeper Xavier Martinez also stuffed the stat sheet, racking up nine saves, two steals, two assists and one goal. Jake Primmer had three goals, Max Buran and Calvin Sridhara each had one goal and an assist, and Louis DeScioli and Adam Hamilton had two goals each. Devin Cosgrove had three assists too.

Water polo championship matchups

The Soda Aquatic Center in Moraga will be the site of the North Coast Section water polo championships on Saturday. No. 1 Campolindo will take on No. 3 Carondelet in the girls NCS Open Division championship, while No. 4  De La Salle will play No. 2 Miramonte in the boys NCS Open Division title game. … In Division I, San Ramon Valley girls will face Las Lomas, and in Division II, James Logan and Marin Catholic will duke it out. … Over in the Central Coast Section, the Sacred Heart Prep boys will play host to St. Francis, and the SHP girls will do likewise with Soquel. Los Altos and Leigh will be the matchup in the girls D-I final, and Serra will take on Los Altos in the boys championship match. Leland will compete against Valley Christian for the boys Division II final.