Sacramento’s Bradshaw Christian repeats as section champion in CIF volleyball. What’s next?
The Bradshaw Christian Pride had the shortest commute of the 12 teams that capped the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section volleyball tournaments, just under a five-mile trek down Calvine Road in South Sacramento.
Seeded second in the Division V bracket, Bradshaw Christian beat top-seeded Big Valley Christian of Modesto at Cosumnes River College in five sets, registering scores of 29-24, 19-25, 25-15, 18-25 and 15-8 in the clincher to repeat as section champions.
The Pride earned the No. 4 seed in the CIF Northern California Division V bracket and will host 13th-seeded Fort Bragg at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night. All section finalists and some section semifinalists advance to the NorCal rounds to fill out 14-team brackets.
The Pride this season has been led in kills by Emmerson Patterson, Chloe Lester and Monica Buchanan with contributions from, among others: Trinity Yu, Taylor Williams, Heidi Jones, Vivian Wong, Sophia Rios and Caitlin Brannen.
Division I
Third-seeded St. Mary’s of Stockton defeated top-seeded Rocklin in five sets by scores of 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 23-25 and 15-9 to repeat as champions, having downed the Thunder of Placer County in the 2023 finals.
With a 27-6 record and a 12-match winning streak, St. Mary’s earned the No. 7 seed in the elite NorCal Open Division and will open Tuesday night at No. 2 Saint Francis of Mountain View.
Rocklin (37-5) is the No. 8 seed in the Open and starts at top-seeded Branson of Ross in Marin County.
Gianna Bogan had 17 kills for Rocklin against St. Mary’s, and Addy Scheitlin had 12 and Rylee Heinz 11.
Division II
Second-seeded Vacaville beat top-seeded Christian Brothers 3-2 with scores of 15-25, 25-19, 25-23, 18-25 and 15-11 for the Solano County school’s fourth section crown.
The Bulldogs are 36-6, have an 11-match winning streak and are seeded 11th in the NorCal D-I bracket with Christian Brothers gaining the No. 12 seed in the same bracket.
Vacaville opens against No. 6 Redwood of Larkspur on Tuesday and Christian Brothers travels to No. 5 Foothill of Pleasanton.
The top seed in D-I is Folsom, which lost to St. Mary’s 3-2 in a section semifinal, and will host Mercy of Burlingame in an opener. Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove is the No. 13 seed, having lost to Rocklin 3-1 in a section semifinal. Pleasant Grove plays at No. 4 Logan of Union City.
Vacaville has been led by kills leader Ebony Lewis, hitting percentage and total blocks leaders Ava Duran and Gianna Brunie, digs leader Risley Van Pelt, service ace and aces-per set and assists leader Nora Brazelton.
Division III
Top-seeded Vanden beat No. 3 Roseville 3-1 with scores of 25-20, 17-25, 27-25, 25-21 for the program’s first championship since 2018.
Vanden of Fairfield placed second in the Monticello Empire League behind D-II champion Vacaville and has been led by kills leaders Aria Isadore, Izzy Taylor and Soph Montano, hitting and serving-aces leader Piper Olson and receptions leader Jazzy Ting.
Vanden is the No. 9 seed in the CIF NorCal D-III bracket and opens at No. 8-seeded East Nicolaus, which is 27-0 and coming off a Northern Section championship three-peat.
Division IV
Top-seeded Ripon defeated No. 2 Liberty Ranch of Galt 3-0 with scores of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-21 for the program’s fifth championship in improving to 30-2 this season.
Because of the CIF’s “competitive-equity” formula, the Indians were placed in the NorCal D-III bracket as a No. 12 seed and will visit Aragon of San Mateo on Tuesday.
Liberty Ranch, led by multi-sport star Haley Smith and captains Paityn Snow, Gaby Arevalo and Rachel Smith, is the top seed in the D-IV bracket and has an opening-round NorCal bye.
The Hawks will host the winner of Tuesday’s Soquel-Vintage of Napa winner.
Division VI
Vacaville Christian beat Stone Ridge Christian of Merced 3-1 with scores of 21-25, 25-16, 25-21 and 25-12 for the program’s first championship since a section three-peat in 2013-15.
Vacaville Christian is the No. 2 seed in the NorCal D-VI bracket and will host No. 7 Grace Christian Academy of Santa Rosa on Tuesday night at Wood High in Vacaville.
▪ Here is complete CIF playoff brackets and ticket information.
This story was originally published November 11, 2024 at 1:07 PM.