Girls volleyball: San Marin claims crucial win against crosstown rival
With a win against Terra Linda but also a loss to San Rafael under their belts already this season, players on the San Marin High girls volleyball team knew how crucial it was to win their crosstown rivalry match in Novato’s gym on Tuesday night.
“I mean not only is it our crosstown rivals but also this one counts toward MCALs and that’s a big goal for us this year – to make MCALs — and so we came in super pumped,” San Marin setter Damen Heath said. “We know how much it means to the other team, too. It’s their big game for the season so this is definitely one of our most important games of the season, too.”
Despite being pushed to the limit by the Hornets in the first set, the Mustangs came up with the big points when they needed them in a 25-23, 25-18, 25-13 victory.
“We are so motivated to get to playoffs,” San Marin outside hitter Brianna Nottingham said. “It’s what we’ve been working to and it’s such a big boost for that possibility.”
San Marin (11-12, 2-2 MCAL) probably needs one more win with four left to play to secure a return trip to the MCAL playoffs. San Marin’s postseason hopes likely come down to a match against Archie Williams on Oct. 10. To make that game matter, however, the Mustangs first had to get past a Novato team that came out with a ton of energy and controlled a good chunk of the first set.
“When we do really good it’s because of our energy and we kind of thrive when we build off of things like serving runs and good kills and stuff like that,” Novato setter Petra Rabb said. “That’s what we were doing the most in that set.”
The Hornets (8-10, 0-4) fell behind 19-15 in the first but put together a rally that featured a kill by Zoie Halsing, a block by freshman Kylie Law-Hing, a kill by Rabb, and an ace by Darci Blackman. An ace by Rabb gave the Hornets a 23-20 lead.
Nottingham had a crucial kill land just inside the court to make it 23-21 then a Novato kill landed just outside the court to make it 23-22. San Marin libero Avery Vuong, who had already registered an ace on a nasty dipping serve, picked a perfect time to get another one, giving the Mustangs a set point at 24-23.
“That was a momentum serve for the team coming down knowing they were one point away from having set point” San Marin coach Mike Mann said. “For Avery to go back and make that serve – we’ve used her as a serving sub before so she’s comfortable in those moments. She’s able to locate the ball really well and doesn’t really succumb to the pressure of the crowd or the noise.”
San Marin claimed the first set on a hitting error by the Hornets.
“We’re learning how to be mentally tough and fight to the end and that’s just where we’re a work in progress, right?” Novato coach Jennifer Woodall said. “They have so much talent and they have so much energy, it’s just finding it all the way to the end.”
The score was 7-7 in the second set when San Marin forced a side out to get Sawyer Zappelli behind the service line. Zappelli ripped off a 6-0 run, including back-to-back aces, to give San Marin a 14-7 lead.
“Serving one consistent spot on the court that was kind of weak for them and making sure my serve was consistent so it didn’t change at all,” Zappelli said of her serving strategy. “It was continuously aggressive, no matter how tight we were in points.”
Novato made a run to get back within three points but San Marin pushed the lead back up to 19-11. Novato made another run – highlighted by two kills from Halsing, plus a block and a kill from Law-Hing – to get back within 21-18. San Marin closed out the set by getting a pair of kills from Zappelli, plus a spectacular pancake dig from Nottingham on a point that the Mustangs eventually won.
The Mustangs raced out to a big lead in the third set and didn’t look back. Alyson Labozzetta led the way with 11 kills while Nottingham added eight kills. Zappelli had five kills and two aces. Heath had 22 assists.