Hi! Glad you could join us for another edition of The Notebook, our Friday weekly look at girls volleyball throughout the state of California.
In key action last night from the state top 25…
Four match-ups between teams ranked among the state’s top 25 highlighted a busy night for the state’s top teams.
No. 1 Mira Costa fought off No. 17 Palos Verdes in four sets. Taylor Deckert had 24 digs and three aces and Chloe Hynes contributed 11 kills and five blocks to lead the Mustangs, who were held to .173 hitting in the win.
No. 3 Mater Dei swept No. 18 JSerra, as Cymarrah Gordon had 11 kills and four blocks and Julia Kakkis chipped in with 31 assists and seven digs.
No. 5 Sierra Canyon bested No. 9 Marymount in three, while No. 7 Torrey Pines snuck past No. 25 Westview in five sets, rallying from a 2-1 deficit.
No. 8 Redondo Union, No. 11 Beckman, No. 13 St, Mary’s, No. 15 Foothill of Pleasanton, No. 19 Otay Ranch, No. 20 Alemany, and No. 22 Marin Catholic all won. St. Mary’s got 15 kills from McKenna McIntosh in its sweep of Lodi. Foothill swept North Region-ranked Carondelet. Otay Ranch got 18 kills from Deyjah McFadden and 10 digs and seven aces from Karina Garcia in turning back San Marcos of San Marcos. Marin Catholic overcame hot Windsor in four sets. Windsor played without its star, Taylor Boyce.
The top 25 took its share of losses to unranked teams. Orange Lutheran outlasted No. 14 Santa Margarita Catholic in five sets. Rocklin topped No. 24 Oak Ridge, one of two new entrants into the rankings this week. And resurgent Long Beach Poly, led by five first-set aces from Kalia Teofilo and 10 kills apiece from middles Layla Moore and Kristen Dear, bested No. 21 Long Beach Wilson in four sets.
St. Mary’s hones its Craft
St. Mary’s of Stockton showed why it is the top team in the Sac-Joaquin Section by winning the loaded Christine Craft Memorial Tournament on Saturday. The Rams overcame 16 kills from Elle Weaver to down the host school, Oak Ridge, 20-25, 25-21, 15-10, in the championship match. St. Mary’s has only lost once all season, to Colorado power Valor Christian, which is undefeated in 2023 after winning the 2022 large-class state championship.
Sweet revenge at Mohs for Cathedral Catholic
The Dave Mohs Orange County Championships this past weekend featured many of the best teams from Southern California. Fierce competition eliminated many teams ranked in the CIF State top 25 but left top five teams Mater Dei and Cathedral Catholic to battle for the championship. The two teams had met once before, with Mater Dei winning, 28-26, 25-23, in the semifinals at Volleypalooza in Texas in August.
The rematch was as competitive, with Cathedral Catholic, last year’s undefeated state and national champions, winning, 15-10 in the third, after the teams split 25-18 decisions. Michigan-bound middle Jenna Hanes was named tournament MVP.
“Cathedral had an excellent final and we couldn’t slow Jenna down no matter how hard we tried,” Mater Dei coach Dan O’Dell said.
The Monarchs were hampered by the loss of junior setter Ayva Ostovar, who was injured the day before the tournament started. That left Mater Dei with having Julia Kakkis setting a 5-1 rather than being able to also attack from the right in three rotations.
“Our offense became too predictable in the end as our middles were unable to help offensively,” O’Dell said.
For Cathedral Catholic, libero Maya Evens, pins Tiana Owens and Ayva Moi, and setter Amanda Saeger also were catalysts.
Coach Juliana Conn said that getting the revenge win was sweet for her team.
“I’m just happy that we were able to play them again so quickly and come out on top,” she said. “We were just more consistent than the last time we played them and we were able to shut down their big hitters. Amanda made Jenna and Tiana shine at the net, while Maya and Ayva were anchors on serve receive. I’m proud that we followed the game plan to a T and showed really good teamwork.”
A point of Pride for Pitman
Pitman's Pride is showing in this trophy pose after another title last Saturday
Pitman won its second tournament of the season, going 7-0 to take the Central CA Classic this past weekend. The Pride (22-2) bested St. Francis of Sacramento in the championship match behind senior MB Madison Eissayou and sophomore OH Maryn Hall.
The weekend also saw Pitman head coach Kristen Pontes-Christian collect career win No. 350. Congrats!
Los Al proves Whittier
Los Alamitos continued its hot streak with a poetic win at Whittier
Los Alamitos stayed hot by going 7-0 over the weekend to take the Whittier Tournament. The Griffins beat Orange Lutheran, Saugus, and Temecula Valley, among others. Kaia Herweg was named MVP after 11 kills and 12 assists in the final. Noa Nuez, Anna Sanzaro, and Katy Foley were also named all-tournament.
Livermore Roundup goes to James Logan…no splaining necessary
James Logan, on a 14-match winning streak after dropping its season opener, captured the Livermore Roundup on Saturday with a 5-0 showing, which included a three-set win over Head-Royce in the final. Clutch performances in the deciding set by sophomore OHs McKenzie Anderson and Emma Tran and senior libero Julianna Bondoc were essential to the win, Anderson had 39 kills and 47 digs for the tournament, while Bondoc had 83 digs.
News and notes…
Elle Vandeweghe, a 6-5 sophomore middle, collected 15 kills and seven blocks in her Tuesday debut for Marymount. Vandeweghe is one of many transfer students set to make an impact on the California volleyball landscape after their 30-day sit-out period expired…
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Redwood of Visalia went 4-1 at the SLO Town Tournament over the weekend. The Rangers fell to host San Luis Obispo in the championship semifinal. Captain and libero Devyn Castaneda was selected to the All-Tournament Team from Redwood.
“Devyn is the cornerstone of the back row,” her coach said. “Her serve receive passing and digging prowess set her teammates up for success all weekend.”
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Mammoth is playing in its middle school gym after construction crews hit two power lines more than a week ago and blew the power out throughout the entire high school. The Huskies have built a 9-3 record so far this season heading to the Cal City Tournament this weekend…
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It was the “Addy” and “Abby” show for Redondo Union on Tuesday versus Santa Monica. Addi Junk, who recently earned her "AA" beach rating, came off the bench early against Santa Monica and helped the Sea Hawks overcome a slow start. Addyson Benefield led the team with 12 kills and hit .400, while Abby Zimmerman chipped in 10 kills and hit .533.
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San Juan Hills turned heads at Mohs with wins over the likes of JSerra and Palos Verdes. The Stallions are 9-8 on the year, with all but one loss against ranked teams.
“I think tough serving has been huge for us,” said coach Jess Papell. “We've been able to get teams out of system and make it harder for them to set their middles and run their offenses as effectively against us. Our blocking has improved and has been impactful at times as well. I think we've had a bunch of different people step up offensively for us and score when we needed them to. We've also really worked hard to have a next-play mentality and be ‘goldfish’ (I'm a big Ted Lasso fan so I love that simple way of saying we need to move on from the previous play and focus on how to be successful on the next play). We've come back from some big deficits in quite a few matches by emphasizing that and embracing it.”
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Francis Parker is off to a 7-3 start to 2023, which includes a win over an Eastlake team that was state-ranked at the time. The Lancers are led by pins Ava Pointsett, Christina Uebelhoer and Sarah Uebelhoer, MB Angelina Allen, libero Sami Kim, and S/RS Courtney Casey. The team also has two impact freshmen Layla Steinfeld, a 6-0 MB/RS; and Malia Mikaela, a 5-7 setter. Poinsett, a junior, has been nearly unstoppable this year.
College-Bound!
In this space, we list those players, playing California high school volleyball in the current senior class and younger, who have made a commitment to attend a college or university of their choice and play volleyball. To date, we have 102 such players. Congrats! That’s a big number, but surely there are more! Please email jtawa@cifstate.org to add players to the list, using the format you see below, or to make any corrections.
Tea Abischer, 5-10 Sr. MB, San Luis Obispo – UC Davis (Beach)
Maya Baker, 5-9 Jr. S, Archbishop Mitty – Notre Dame
Jessie Bates, 5-11 Sr. S/RS, JSerra – UC Irvine
Addy Benefield, 6-0 Sr. OH, Redondo Union -- Boise State
Paige Bennett, 6-0 Sr. OH, Foothill (Pleasanton) -- Winthrop
Kendall Beshear, 5-11 Sr. OH, Palos Verdes – Cal Poly SLO
Fallyn Blotzer, 6-1 Jr. OH, Santiago (Corona) – Cincinnati
Camden Bolane, 6-2 Sr. MB/OH, Pacific Ridge – Yale
Laela Burgess, 5-7 Jr. S, San Luis Obispo - UC Davis
Katrina Catalan, 5-8 Sr. S, Vista Murrieta -- UCSB
Malyssa Cawa, 5-6 Sr. libero, Mater Dei -- Stanford
Isabel Clark, 6-0 Sr. OH, Mater Dei -- USD
Madison Clark, 5-11 Sr. MB, Redondo Union -- UC Riverside
Madi Collins, 5-9 Sr. S, Redondo Union -- Long Beach State
Addison Collum, 5-11 Sr. OH, Kennedy (La Palma) – Arkansas State
Katelyn Cook, 5-10 Sr. OH, Archbishop Mitty -- Fairfield
Ximena Cordero, 5-10 Sr. OH, Otay Ranch – UC Davis
Dakota Conway, 5-8 Sr. DS, Cathedral Catholic -- FIU
Amiah Cornejo, 5-10 Sr. OH, University Prep (Redding) – Concordia-Irvine
Erin Curtis, 6-0 Sr. OH, Saint Francis (Mountain View) – North Carolina
Taylor Deckert, 5-9 Sr. libero, Mira Costa -- USC
Gabby Destler, 6-1 Sr. OH, Marymount – Loyola Marymount
Kate Duffey, 6-0 Sr. S, Ventura – UCLA
Niki Egan, 5-8 Sr. DS, Cathedral Catholic – Washington (Beach)
Jade Epps, 6-0 Sr. OH, Lakewood – San Jose State
Kate Fagundes, 5-5 Sr. libero, Oak Ridge – Vanguard University
Kyla Firestone, 5-8 Sr. S, Alemany -- Loyola Marymount University
Elena Fisher, 5-11 Jr. OH, Branson – Stanford (Beach)
Helena Foord, 5-10 Sr. OH, South Pasadena -- NYU
Reese Fraser, 5-10 Sr. S, Archie Williams – UC Davis (Beach)
Meghan Freck, 5-7 Sr. S/DS, Huntington Beach – UC Davis (Beach)
Charlie Fuerbringer, 5-11 Sr. S, Mira Costa – Wisconsin
Giselle Gallegos, 5-10 Sr. OH, Redondo Union -- Tulane (Beach)
Jenna Garner, 6-0 Sr. OH, South Pasadena -- Penn
Cymarah Gordon, 6-1 Sr. RS, Mater Dei -- Michigan
Gwen Grigsby, 5-3 Sr. libero, Harbor – Cal State Bakersfield (Beach)
Jenna Hanes, 6-3 Sr. MB, Cathedral Catholic -- Michigan
Brooke Hansen, 6-0 Sr. S/RS, Etiwanda – Cal Poly SLO
Cleo Hardin, 6-3 Sr. RS, Menlo – Yale
Victoria Henkel, 6-0 Sr. OH, Redondo Union – LSU (Beach)
Kaia Herweg, 5-8 Sr. S/OH, Los Alamitos – Grand Canyon
Abby Hoybjerg, 6-2 Sr. MB, Oak Ridge – BYU
Mikayla Hsieh, 510 Sr. S/RS, Flintridge Sacred Heart – Pomona-Pitzer
Keely Hummel, 5-10 Sr. S, St. Mary’s (Stockton) – Fresno State
Audrey Hyde, 5-10 Sr. RS/S, Redwood (Visalia) – Westmont College
Chloe Hynes, 6-1 Sr. RS, Mira Costa -- NYU
Kayla Johnson, 5-11 Sr. OH, Pleasant Valley – Utah (Beach)
Madison Johnson, 6-3 Jr. OH, Chaparral -- UCSD
Tatum Johnson, 6-0 Sr. MB, JSerra -- Colorado
Sadie Jeffrey, 6-0 Sr. OH, Santa Cruz – Cal Poly SLO (Beach)
Julia Kakkis, 6-0 Sr. S/RS, Mater Dei -- Brown
Charlotte Kelly, 6-3 Jr. MB, Amador Valley – Cal Poly SLO
Brooklyn Kostoff, 5-7 Sr. S, Santa Margarita Catholic – Azusa Pacific
Amiya Kuchibhotia, 6-1 Sr. MB, Archbishop Mitty -- NYU
Mallory Labreche, 5-11 Jr. RS. Palos Verdes – UCLA (Beach)
Molly Labreche, 5-7 Jr. libero, Palos Verdes – LSU (Beach)
Hayley LaFontaine, 6-0 Sr. OH, Huntington Beach – Cal Poly SLO (Beach)
Quinn Loper, 6-1 Jr. OH, San Clemente -- USC
Lauren Lynch, 5-6 Jr. libero, Sierra Canyon – San Diego
Isabella Marrero, 5-6 Sr. libero, Campbell Hall - American University
Kate Martin, 5-10 Sr. OH, Marymount -- UCSB
Trixie McMillin, 5-6 Sr. libero, Mira Costa – Cal
Grace Mcqoid, 6-0 Sr. OH, Foothill (Palo Cedro) – Vanguard University
Mila Mijailovic, 5-10 Sr. OH/DS, Campbell Hall – Yale
Mackenzie Miller, 5-11 Sr. OH, Redondo Union -- USC (Beach)
Elon Milroy, 6-0 Sr. MB, Los Alamitos – San Jose State (Beach)
Ayva Moi, 5-11 Jr. RS, Cathedral Catholic – Hawaii (Beach)
Althea Morris, 5-9 Jr. S, Campbell Hall – St. Edward’s University
Sadie Moore, 5-11 Sr. RS, Pleasant Valley – Arizona (Beach)
Noa Nuez, 5-8 Sr. libero, Los Alamitos – Georgia State (Beach)
Manaia Ogbechie, 6-3 Jr. MB Oaks Christian -- Northwestern
Ayva Ostovar, 5-6 Jr.. S, Mater Dei -- UCSB
Kennedy Osunsanmi, 6-2 Sr. RS, West Ranch – UCLA
Malia Parsons, 5-9 Sr. libero/OH, Tamalpais – St. Olaf College
McKenzie Parsons, 6-2 Sr. MB, Poway -- Cornell
Nicole Patton, 6-0 Sr. OH, Pacific Ridge - Marist College
Summer Pederson, 5-7 Sr. libero, Santa Cruz – Concordia- Irvine
Taylor Ponchak, 6-2 Jr. RS, Huntington Beach – Stanford (Beach)
Faith Rabb-Patterson, 6-2 Sr. MB, Christian Brothers – UC Davis
Danica Rach, 6-2 Sr. OH, Sierra Canyon -- Boston College
Mauriana Rayford, 5-9 Sr. OH, Chaparral – Lamar University
Charlotte Reff, 5-11 Sr. S, Buckley School – NYU
Kiki Remensperger, 5-9 Sr. S, Poway – South Carolina (Beach)
Amanda Saeger, 5-11 Sr. S, Cathedral Catholic – DePaul
Tmukisa Sagiao, 5-9 Sr. RS, Helix Charter – Cal State San Bernardino
Katie Salonga, 5-7 Sr. S, Foothill (Pleasanton) – Colorado
Bryn Shankle, 6-4 Sr. MB, Mira Costa -- TCU
Reagan Shields, 5-10 Sr. OH, Santa Margarita Catholic – Oregon State
Sadie Snipes, 6-0 Sr. OH, Branson – Santa Clara (Beach)
Dani Sparks, 5-7 Sr. S, Huntington Beach – Cal Poly SLO (Beach)
Birdie Stone, 5-11 Sr. OH, San Juan Hills -- Montana
Cayla Sutton, 5-10 Jr. RS, Clovis North -- Stetson University (Beach)
Zaria Thornton, 6-0 Sr. MB, Lakewood – Oregon State
Anaya Thrower, 6-4 Sr. OH, Vanden -- Oregon
Taylor Treahy, 6-1 Sr. RS, Sierra Canyon -- George Washington
Madison Triplett, 5-9 Sr. OH, El Capitan (Lakeside) -- UCSB
Victoria Turner, 5-7 Sr. S, Beckman -- UCSD
Logan Tusher, 5-11 Sr. S, Branson - Stanford (Beach)
Eliana Urzua, 6-3 Jr. OH, Bishop Diego -- UCLA
Miliani Villareal, 5-9 Sr. libero, Vista Murrieta – Sacred Heart University
Madeline Way, 6-2 Sr. MB, Sierra Canyon -- Hawaii
Elle Weaver, 5-10 Sr. OH, Oak Ridge -- Brown
Sofia Williams, 5-9 Sr. OH, San Clemente -- Yale
Taylor Williams, 6-2 Sr. OH, Saint Francis (Mountain View) -- Duke
Sophia Winter, 5-10 Sr. RS, Pleasant Valley – Arizona (Beach)
Taylor Yu, 6-0 Sr. S, Temple City -- Stanford
Ava Zamora, 5-10 Jr. S/RS, Westview – Stony Brook
Ashby Zubchevich, 6-0 Jr. OH, La Canada – Duke
Be back next week with more news and notes on volleyball in the Golden State…