It was a good opening week for west county volleyball teams, with both Analy and El Molino logging wins in the newly aligned North Bay League.
The Lions (13-8) seized immediate control of the Redwood Division, posting a pair of four-set home wins over Rancho Cotate and Ukiah. The victories vaulted El Molino into first place with a league mark of 2-0 and 13-8 overall.
“For the first time in a very, very long time, we can imagine and more importantly believe that we can win a pennant to hang on our gym wall,” El Mo coach Becky Sani said. “It’s a great feeling, and I want to ride this wave as far as it’ll take us.”
The Lions will resume league action on Sept. 25 (after press time) at Healdsburg, followed by a Sept. 27 visit to Elsie Allen. The varsity matches start at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, things didn’t go quite as well for the Tigers (1-1, 8-8) in the Oak Division, where they gained an even split, rebounding from a four-set loss to Cardinal Newman with a four-game win over Maria Carrillo.
At press time, the Tigers (1-1, 8-8) were preparing to host Windsor on Sept. 25 and will entertain Montgomery on Sept. 27 (6 p.m.).
Lions log wins
El Mo kicked off league play on Sept. 18 against visiting Rancho Cotate, overcoming a flat start to win going away: 25-17, 17-25, 25-15, 25-15.
“I would say that maybe we looked past Rancho and spent too much time preparing for Ukiah,” Sani said. “That’s not a mistake I will make the next round.” Pacing the El Mo attack were Sasha Senal (6 kills, 9 digs), Grace McCormick (9 kills, 7 digs, 13 assists, 5 aces), Kassidy Sani (6 kills, 13 digs, 13 assists, 6 aces), Yasmin Sierra (5 blocks, 2 blocks), Stacie Del Carpio (3 kills, 6 blocks) and libero Grace Anderson (24 digs, 3 aces).
The Lions came out focused and prepared for visiting Ukiah two nights later, a team that El Molino knew very little about.
“They were our unknown since we haven’t seen them in preseason or in tournaments,” coach Becky Sani noted. “I was informed that they had a really good middle who likes to hit it hard angle to right back. So that’s what we prepped for, adjusting our defense to combat that.”
Again, the Lions started fast but overcame a sluggish game two and erased an 11-3 deficit in the third game, going on to capture the match in four sets: 25-18, 21-25, 27-25, 25-18.
“Our libero, senior Grace Anderson, did everything she could to read the attack and did a great job of touching balls, and I have no idea how she got a hand on them,” Sani said. “The Lions are learning that against these harder teams you can’t just power through them. You have to play smart and pick on their weakness and find holes in their defense. It was a great win.”
Statistical leaders were Senal (16 Kills, 7 digs, 6 aces), McCormick (12 kills, 8 digs, 16 assists), Kassidy Sani (9 kills,18 digs, 21 assists, 2 aces), Sierra (3 kills, 7 blocks) and Anderson (22 digs, 2 aces).
Tigers gain split
Analy drew a tough opponent in the NBL Oak Division opener at Cardinal Newman on Sept. 18, giving the Cardinals all they wanted, before falling in four hard-fought sets: 27-25, 21-25, 14-25, 23-25.
Pacing the attack were Claire Rudderow (9 kills, 17 digs, 1 block), Jalynn Serpa (8 kills, 2 blocks, 7 digs, 1 ace), Bella Puget (6 kills, 5 blocks, 3 digs), Bree Scott (5 aces, 13 digs), Maddie Windsor (7 digs, 25 assists, 2 aces), Merritt Taggart (4 kills) and Sara Davidson (15 digs, 1 ace).
The Tigers were back in the win column two nights later at perennial power Maria Carrillo, overcoming a tough Pumas squad to win in four: 25-19, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20.
Puget led the team with 10 kills and two blocks, while other leaders included Rudderow (9 kills, 2 aces, 28 digs), Windsor (7 kills, 7 digs, 24 assists), Taggart (6 kills), Serpa (4 kills, 7 digs, 5 assists, 1 ace) and Julia Kruk (4 kills, 2 blocks).
