Teams successful in first season following league realignment
A successful high school volleyball season is officially over for Analy and El Molino varsity teams, with both falling in their respective North Coast Section tournaments.
Analy, the eighth seed in the NCS Division 3 tourney, advanced with a five-set victory over #9 Lick Wilmerding in the playoff opener on Oct. 23, but fell to #1 seeded Marin Catholic in straight sets on Saturday to finish the year at 14-12.
By all accounts it was a great year for the Tigers in the first season competing in the newly aligned North Bay League Oak Division, finishing the regular season in third place with a record of 6-4.
Led by veteran coach Holly Folendorf, the Tigers came out strong in the Oct. 23 visit to Lick Wilmerding, outlasting their opponent in a five-set marathon: 23-25, 25-23, 27-29, 25-20, 15-12.
Statistical leaders for the Tigers were Claire Rudderow (14 kills, 5 aces), Bella Puget (10 kills, 2 solo blocks, 4 block assists), Bree Scott (28 digs), Maddie Windsor (35 assists, 5 aces, 12 digs) and Jalynn Serpa (7 kills).
The Tigers met their Waterloo in Saturday’s match at top seeded Marin Catholic, falling to the Wildcats in three games: 25-11, 25-15, 25-15.
Rudderow led the attack with five kills, while other top performers included Serpa (3 kills, 3 aces, 8 digs), Puget (3 kills, 3 blocks), Merritt Taggart (3 kills, 1 block) and Windsor (7 digs, 10 assists).
“Overall it was a good year,” Folendorf noted. “It was definitely different with the new league and shorter season, but the girls did a great job of adjusting and were very competitive over the course of the season, and in a lot of close matches.”
Lions bounced in playoffs
It was an equally strong season for the Lions under the guidance of head coach Becky Sani, contending for a title for much of the season in the NBL Redwood Division before settling for second place.
The Lions were also seeded #8 in the NCS Division 4 playoffs, falling to #9 seeded St. Patrick/St. Vincent in three sets: 18-25, 13-25, 16-25.
Pacing the Lions’ attack were Sasha Senal (10 kills, 4 blocks, 6 digs), Grace McCormick (4 kills, 10 assists), Grace Anderson (15 digs) and Kassidy Sani (4 kills, 4 blocks, 8 digs).
The loss gave El Molino a final season mark of 20-13.
“Our goal this year was to win a pennant, and we came up short, coming in second place in league,” Sani reflected. “But this team played really well together, battling illnesses, injuries and still came out better than an El Mo team has come out in a long time. Each year our program gets stronger and more experienced,” she added.
The future for the El Molino program looks bright, expecting to return a strong nucleus of veterans to next year’s squad.
“I will have my two strong hitters in Senal and Sani, and I am returning my sophomore setter Grace McCormick, who is a key player on our team,” Becky Sani noted, citing the help of team managers Jack Grassl and Mac McGarrett. “Again, next year our goal will be to hang a pennant on our wall and host a home playoff game.”
