Preps of the week: Branson secures another volleyball section title

The North Coast Section girls volleyball playoffs wrapped up on Saturday, which can only mean one thing — that the Branson School added another championship to its trophy case.

Branson made it two-for-two in the North Coast Section Open Championship while also extending its run to 15 section titles in the past 16 postseasons.

The MCAL singles and doubles championships were also decided last week, with San Marin’s Devanshi Shrestha and Redwood’s team of Julia Povio and Alessia Balliet being crowned as the winners.

The action on the gridiron saw Marin Catholic pull out a dramatic victory as time expired against Windsor, Archie Williams earn a crucial victory to secure a spot in the playoffs, and San Rafael put together a dominant performance against Terra Linda.

Six Marin teams — three boys, three girls — also remain alive as the NCS playoffs head into the semifinals on Wednesday.

Abby King and Ella Tsai, Branson girls volleyball

The Bulls went back-to-back, winning a second consecutive NCS Open Championship, getting big performances from Tsai, an outside hitter, and King, a middle blocker. Tsai led the Bulls in kills in both games, with 14 against Redwood in the semifinals and 17 in the final against Marin Catholic. Tsai also had 16 digs against MC. King had nine kills against Redwood and 13 against MC. King was a force at the net in both games, with five blocks against Redwood and six more against MC. King provided several crucial points late in the second and third sets against MC to help Branson secure the title.

Brianna Nottingham and Damen Heath, San Marin girls volleyball

The Mustangs made history by advancing to the first section final in program history last week. Nottingham had 17 kills and 14 digs in the semifinal win over Moreau Catholic while Heath dished out 37 assists. Nottingham added 16 more kills as San Marin fell to No. 2 Heritage in the title game. Heath had 16 assists against Heritage. The Mustangs also advanced to the NorCal/State playoffs for the second time in program history.

Devanshi Shrestha, San Marin girls tennis

Shrestha made quite the impression during her first season in the MCAL, winning the league’s singles title without dropping a set. Shrestha, the top seed, didn’t drop a game during her first two matches before defeating MC’s Ariana Bazan, 6-3, 6-0, in the semifinals. Shrestha then squared off against Tam’s Chloe Mouret-Lafage – the top singles player for the MCAL champion Red-tailed Hawks – in the final. Shrestha prevailed 6-3, 6-4.

Julia Povio and Alessia Balliet, Redwood girls tennis

The seeding committee also got it right in the MCAL doubles tournament as Povio and Balliet rolled into the semifinals while dropping just two games over their first two matches. The Redwood duo prevailed 6-1, 6-2, in the semifinals against Tam’s Annika Hakes and Payton Dunn, then won 6-4, 6-2 against Tam’s Bianca Botero-Cortes and Maya Riisgaard to win the title.

Dylan Skrinar, Nick Brisbin, and Jarred Geissberger, Marin Catholic football

MC found itself trailing by seven points late against Windsor on Friday night. Skrinar led a last-minute drive, hitting Brisbin for an 8-yard touchdown on the final play of the game to cap huge nights for both players. Skrinar threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns while Brisbin caught seven passes for 146 yards and two scores. Geissberger, dealing with a foot injury, hadn’t played a single snap to that point. With the game on the line, coach Mazi Moayed turned to his star running back for a two-point conversion to win the game, 28-27.

Mani Mosher and Ates Hurd, Archie Williams football

Mosher came up with arguably the biggest play of the season for the Peregrine Falcons, racing 75 yards for a touchdown inside the final 3 minutes to give them the lead for good in a 35-28 victory against Piner on Friday night. The sixth win of the season ensured that Archie Williams would make it into the postseason this season after narrowly missing out last year. Hurd had two touchdown passes and made numerous big catches in the second half to help the Peregrine Falcons get the win.

Lachlan Royston and Will Healy, San Rafael football

The quarterback-receiver connection that Royston and Healy have fostered paid dividends during the Bell Game against Terra Linda on Saturday. The connection was good for four first-half touchdowns in a 46-13 victory over the cross-town rival Trojans. Royston went over 400 yards for the game and Healy caught seven balls for more than 200 yards. The victory gave San Rafael possession of the Bell after TL had won the past two meetings.

Maddox McClellan and Tyler Mahabir. Redwood boys water polo

The top-seeded Giants rolled through their first two games in the NCS D-I playoffs. McClellan had a goal and three assists in the first round against Castro Valley before tallying a team-high four goals in a 20-10 win against College Park. Mahabir had three assists in the first game before scoring four times in the quarterfinals.

Brogan Corridan, Beckett Corridan, and Daniel Volker, San Marin boys water polo

The No. 3 Mustangs leaned on their top three scorers to add to their program-record with a 17th win and make it to a section semifinal for the first time with a 16-12 win against No. 6 Marin Catholic on Saturday. Volker produced identical stat lines of three goals and four assists in both wins last week to finish with a team-high 14 points for the week. Brogan Corridan had 10 goals, three assists, and 11 steals across the two games. Beckett Corridan added seven goals, four assists, and six steals.

Justin Tachiki and Jack Buchanan, Marin Academy boys water polo

Tachiki and Buchanan combined to score seven goals as the No. 9-seeded Wildcats stunned No. 1 Piedmont 10-9 in overtime in the NCS D-II quarterfinals on Saturday. MA trailed 7-3 late in the first half before Buchanan scored two off his team-high four goals to kick start the comeback. Tachiki scored three times, including the game-tying goal in the fourth quarter and the winner in overtime.

Sophia Uhlhorn-Thornton, Tam girls water polo

Uhlhorn-Thornton led the way in both games as No. 4 Tam advanced to the D-I semifinals. Uhlhorn-Thornton scored five goals in a 15-6 victory against Encinal on Thursday then added four more goals in a 10-8 victory against Alameda. The Red-tailed Hawks also got balanced scoring from their other attacking players. Cat Philp scored five times last week, Sabine Barringer netted four times, and Julia Ulvestad scored three.

Taylor Fahy and Sylvie Fine, Archie Williams girls water polo

Fahy and Fine combined to score eight goals as the No. 2 Peregrine Falcons moved on to the NCS D-I semifinals following a 13-10 win against Marin Academy on Saturday. Fahy led the way with five goals while Fine scored three times.

Kiki Jaroszewski and Lucia Lind, Marin Catholic girls water polo

Jaroszewski had a strong week in the cage for the No. 4-seeded Wildcats, only conceding five goals across two games as MC advanced to the NCS D-II semifinals. Lind scored a game-high three goals in a 7-3 quarterfinal victory against No. 5 California on Saturday.