The excitement will be ratcheted up a notch this week as West County high school volleyball teams begin the final phase of the season.
At press time the third seeded Tigers (9-3, 13-8) were preparing to visit number two Petaluma in the opening round of the Sonoma County League playoff tournament, with the winner slated to meet the survivor of the Sonoma-Healdsburg match on Thursday, Oct. 27 (7 p.m.) at the site of the highest remaining seed.
Analy is also a lock to land an at-large berth in the North Coast Section Division-3 playoffs, which begin next Wednesday, Nov. 2. Although an NCS playoff spot is a just reward, the Tigers are expecting a tough road ahead.
“Seeding for NCS is going to be tough,” head coach Holly Folendorf predicted. “We are expecting to be on the road playing one of the top seeded teams.”
Meanwhile, the Lions (4-8, 10-12) are also on the bubble for NCS Division-4 playoff consideration based on their 6-6 season record in divisional matches. The NCS seeding committee will meet to fill out the tournament brackets on Sunday, Oct. 30.
Tigers win a pair
Last week the Tigers played arguably their best volleyball of the regular season in the final week of SCL play, scoring wins over Sonoma Valley and El Molino.
Analy played host to league champion Sonoma Valley on Senior Night on Oct. 18, honoring seniors Julia Bachteal, Tori Fitzpatrick, Tallulah Kuula, Hailey Ghadiri and Sophie Holland before the match.
The Tigers used the added emotion to hand the Dragons their first loss of the SCL campaign in five sets; 17-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-15 and 15-13.
“It was an exciting match,” Folendorf said. “The girls worked hard and it was nice for them to earn a win on their last home match.”
Statistical leaders for Analy were Ava Ehnes (12 kills, 10 digs), Kuula (7 kills, 16 digs), Claire Rudderow (7 kills, 19 digs), Holland (7 kills) and Sabrina Stephens (20 digs, 3 aces).
The Tigers paid El Molino a visit in the league finale on Oct. 20, completing a season sweep over the Lions in straight sets; 27-25, 25-8 and 25-15.
The Lions paid tribute to graduating seniors Torrie Boles, Jamie Noar, Emily Bowers and Gabby Bushgen in a pre-game ceremony but couldn’t match the Tiger’s firepower to pull an upset.
“El Molino came out really fired up and played very well,” Holendorf noted. “Our girls did a good job maintaining their composure and taking care of the ball.”
Analy leaders included Ehnes (14 kills), Rudderow (9 kills, 21 digs) and Makayla Kraemer (12 digs). There were no stats available for the Lions.
El Mo began the final week with an Oct. 18 visit to Sonoma Valley, extending the match to four hard-fought sets before falling to the Dragons; 17-25, 10-25, 26-24 and 22-25.
