Christian Brothers High School's lone senior, Kayla Neto, won her fourth Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV girls volleyball title, and the rest of the young Falcons showed they have staying power as they upended top-seeded Ripon 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-16) Thursday night at UC Davis.
"The girls really wanted this," said first-year coach Jeff Deter, who has led Golden Sierra to three D-IV titles this decade. "They played excellent."
Neto had a match-high 15 digs with eight kills and three blocks to lead the Falcons to a third consecutive victory over the Indians.
The Falcons had considerable success running their middles – Neto and junior Katie Hoekman – from an array of angles. And with Ripon's middles constantly worried about Neto and Hoekman, outside hitter Erika Cuevas found seams in the block to hit through en route to a match-high 11 kills.
"It's a luxury to be able to run our middles like that," Deter said.
Neto has become something of a mentor to the younger Falcons this season, and the team has reaped the benefits.
"I take it upon myself to bring younger players along," Neto said. "I just try to share my experience."
Deter has said from Day One that the Falcons' goal is a state championship, something Neto yearns for, especially after reaching the title match in her sophomore year but falling short.
"I've done everything there is to do at CB," said Neto, who has won league, section and NorCal titles and was recently named co-MVP of the Sierra Valley Conference. "The only thing left is to win a state championship.
Division I
Nevada Union won its record seventh consecutive D-I title, but this time the Miners had to sweat. Nevada Union hadn't dropped a set in its previous six title matches, but Napa pushed the Miners to five sets before they prevailed 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 15-12).
Abbie Miraldi was the hero, getting a block on match point to seal the win.
"I knew we only get one opportunity at this, and I wasn't going to let that ball get by me," she said.
Division II
No. 3 seed St. Francis entered the title match thinking it could win; top-seeded Oak Ridge entered knowing it would.
Oak Ridge, 40-3 with a current 30-match win streak, dominated the defending champions 3-0 (25-18, 25-9, 25-20) and claimed the third section championship in school history. Kaleigh Durket had 10 kills and 10 digs for the Trojans.
"We walked in confident," Durket said. "We had absolutely no doubt that this was ours."
Oak Ridge's Kayla Berringer had a match-high 14 kills, and teammate Brittney Larsen led all players with 30 assists.
Division III
St. Mary's claimed a three-peat with a sweep of Oakdale (25-21, 25-22, 25-14).
Division V
Seventh-seeded Ripon Christian claimed its second championship in a row – and record 12th overall – by downing top-seeded Woodland Christian 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-10).
"I'm so proud of what we've been able to accomplish," Knights coach Tiger Shelton said. "We set out to do this five years ago when we picked these girls out in eighth grade."
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