By Pete Borello
Prep Volleyball Summary
Proving once again how strong girls volleyball is in the area, five local teams have qualified for the Central Coast Section playoffs.
St. Francis, Los Altos, Mountain View, Gunn and Homestead all open CCS play this week in their respective divisions.
To no one’s surprise, defending state champion St. Francis (24-2) has earned the No. 1 seed in Division II.
The Lancers have a first-round bye, giving them a free pass into Saturday’s quarterfinals at Milpitas High. St. Francis will face the winner of today’s match between No. 9 Westmont (16-21) and No. 8 Menlo-Atherton (18-5) at 5 p.m., Saturday.
St. Francis, the SCVAL De Anza Division champion, closed out the regular season with a straight-game win over Monta Vista last Thursday. Christa Conom and Ashley Dutro paced the Lancers with six kills each.
Like St. Francis, fellow Division II team Gunn (20-11) also doesn’t play until Saturday. The No. 5 Titans play at No. 4 Aptos (28-9) at 1 p.m.
Gunn secured a share of second place with Homestead in the SCVAL El Camino Division Thursday with a straight-game win against Mountain View.
Middle blocker Michelle Rybka posted 11 kills in the match, and Titans coach Evan Barth hopes her recent stellar play continues into the playoffs.
“She’s really been turning it on the last two or three weeks,” he said. “She’s playing hard.”
No. 6 Homestead (23-13) begins Division II action today with a 7 p.m. home match against No. 11 South San Francisco (16-11).
The Mustangs (11-3, 23-13) capped the league season by beating visiting Cupertino in four games Thursday behind Erin Grolle’s 14 kills.
Los Altos has been seeded second in Division III, which also includes No. 12 Mountain View. Both teams play today.
Los Altos (23-6) entertains No. 15 Notre Dame-San Jose at 7 p.m., with the winner moving on to Saturday’s quarterfinals at Milpitas (1 p.m.).
It will take a team effort to advance, according to fourth-year coach Jason Mansfield.
“Everyone needs to do their job on the court,” he said. “We also need to limit our mistakes and stay consistent.”
The Eagles, who enter the playoffs on a three-match win streak, placed second in the De Anza Division at 10-2 - their best record under Mansfield.
Los Altos concluded league play Thursday with a four-game home win over Santa Clara. Suedy Ezzatyar paced Los Altos with nine kills.
Mountain View (21-14) plays at No. 5 Valley Christian-San Jose (15-12) at 7 p.m. The Spartans will need to step up their defense to pull off the upset, according to coach Peter Kim.
“We haven’t been playing it too well, particularly the last couple of matches,” he said. “We have to improve in that area and be ready to play the match.”
