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Over the last week and a half the El Camino High School girls volleyball team has thrived in the role of underdog after knocking off perennial section power Del Oro in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. The Eagles used that mentality to roll through Sonora and St. Mary's-Stockton on the way to the program's first-ever section championship.
Which meant in Tuesday's CIF NorCal playoff opener the third-seeded Eagles were now the favorite and hosting the school's first-ever state volleyball playoff match.
Sir Francis Drake-San Anselmo wasn't intimidated. Not in the least.
The Pirates came out firing and in the process took the large, boisterous pro-El Camino crowd out of it early and rolled to a four-set victory 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-10, 25-15).
"They were a lot faster than we were," Eagles coach Martin Soyama said. "We never once got a rhythm going."
Drake utilized its speedy offense -- even their passes were low line drives to the setter -- to jump out to a 4-0 lead before the Eagles could even blink. That speed opened seams in El Camino's block and Pirates attackers were able to tee off.
"We're always trying to go as fast as possible," Pirates coach Neil Davidson said.
The Eagles' back-row defense was equal to the task on many occasions, extending several long rallies, but eventually Drake's hitters were able to spot open patches of floor and terminate.
"It's tough when there's nothing there to even slow the ball down," El Camino libero Lainey Gordon said.
Drake jumped out to another 4-0 lead in the second set before a Natalie Riddering kill gave the Eagles a chance to regroup. The Pirates' lead ballooned to 9-3 before they started committing errors which El Camino was able to take advantage of. Drake's Lexie Parker hit out of bounds to give the Eagles their first lead of the match at 11-10.
The Pirates led the second set late at 20-16 but the Eagles, led by kills from Riddering and Alayna Robie closed on a 10--4 run to claim their only set victory.
The only other lead the Eagles enjoyed all night came early in the fourth set when back-to-back aces from junior setter Bridget Herenda gave them a 3-1 advantage. From there, however, the Pirates pillaged their way to another easy set victory.
Division I
Second-seeded Nevada Union claimed a four-set victory over unseeded Lincoln-San Francisco 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 27-25) and will face third-seeded Salinas on Saturday. It will be the sixth time this decade the Miners will play in a NorCal semifinal.
Top-seeded Oak Ridge, owner of the state's lone bye, learned that it will face fourth-seeded Amador Valley-Pleasanton in Saturday's other D-I semifinal as the Dons downed Menlo-Atherton on Tuesday night.
Division II
Unseeded Rocklin gave fourth-seeded Petaluma all it could handle, but fell in five sets in its first-round match 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-3). Corissa Santos led the Thunder with 21 kills while Katelyn Ivy added 15. Morgan Smith had 50 assists.
"We had opportunities and we just didn't get it done," Thunder coach Dave Muscarella said. "But our league and our section prepare us well for these types of matches.
"All in all I think we can compete with just about anybody."
On the other side of the bracket No. 3 seed St. Francis made quick work of visiting unseeded Redwood-Larkspur in three sets 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-21). The Troubadours will host second-seeded Palo Alto in a NorCal semifinal on Saturday.
Division IV
Top-seeded Christian Brothers rolled unseeded Sutter 3-0 (25-7, 25-17, 25-21) as Erika Cuevas led the way with 15 kills while Katie Hoekman and Sarah Biondi added nine apiece. The defending NorCal champions will host Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton on Saturday.
Division V
Unseeded East Nicolaus was able to take a set from top-seeded Branson-Ross but ultimately came up short, losing its first-round match 3-1 (25-10, 14-25, 25-13, 25-16).
Bradshaw Christian was swept by No. 2 seed Mt. Madonna-Watsonville 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-17).
