Crystal Gryphons repeat as CCS Division V volleyball champs

It marks the second straight CCS championship for the Gryphons, who rode their good fortune in 2023 all the way to a CIF Division V state championship crown.

“I’m really, really proud of how the team played today,” Crystal senior Gaby Tomatis said. “For me and my position on the court, I knew this was going to be a really big physical and mental push, and I was really focusing on uplifting my teammates the entire time.”

For a Gryphons offense built around their middle blockers, Tomitas at the outside hitter position worked as efficiently as she has all season. Senior middle Ella Beebe scored a team-high 16 kills, and junior middle Petra Hennessey balanced the rotation with 14 kills. Tomitas was right there in the mix with 14 kills, with three clutch swings down the stretch of Game 4 to overcome a late Summit Shasta lead.

Tomitas’ biggest play, however, was to close a two-point deficit late in Game 4. On a tough set heading toward the net, Tomitas danced into the middle and punched the ball over while jump-planting her foot just inside the center line to keep the rally alive. Summit returned it with a swing off the left side, but a perfect pass from libero Bianca Sladewski put the Gryphons in system for Tomitas to sock one home off the left pin, narrowing Summit’s lead to 17-16.

“Early in the season I practiced setting a little bit, just in case we needed it,” Tomatis said. “I mean, I worked on the footwork for that a little bit. But I never really followed through. I think it’s just another effort play, just tracking the ball and seeing where it is, and knowing that the other side doesn’t really know what to expect when the ball’s so inside. So, I was just trying to hustle and put the ball in a spot.”

Summit junior Bianca Flores led all hitters with 17 kills. She and sophomore Daniela Ruiz had the Crystal defense scattering through the early going. Ruiz finished with 16 kills. And for two undersized hitters, both Flores and Ruiz get plenty of height and plenty of top spin on their swings to keep backline defenses constantly guessing in or out.

“These two girls, Bianca and Dani, they are excellent on what they do,” Summit Shasta head coach Gil Gilberstadt said. “They know the court very well. They see everything. ... At the same time, we’re swinging. ... At the end of the day, when you’re playing at this level, you’ve got to take a swing — and we hope to God it goes somewhere.”

The Black Bears (25-5) led late in each of Crystal’s wins — 19-18 twice in games 2 and 4, and 18-13 in Game 3 with two set points to follow at 24-23 and 25-24 — but it was them who had to make up a deficit in Game 1 after Crystal senior Isabella Bringas served up an ace to put the Gryphons up 18-16. Crystal retook the lead 19-18 when Tomitas buzzed a kill down the sideline.

But Ruiz fired back off the left side to tie it, and Summit middle Cheyenne Byrd — in just her second match of the season since returning from injury — scored a paint brush through the middle to put the Black Bears ahead 19-18. It was the beginning of a 6-2 run that put Summit ahead for good in the set, as setter Cecilia Chow had her attackers humming along to the tune of 15 team kills in Game 1.

“I’ve played with these girls for so many years, I feel like we connected really well,” Chow said. “I definitely could have pushed the team more, but I think we did our best. I’m really proud of the girls.”

Then Crystal adjusted its defense, switching from live read blocks by dropping the setter back and focusing on digging Summit’s attacks. It proved quickly successful early in Game 2 as Crystal jumped out to a 9-3 advantage. But after Flores tooled the block to force a side-out, sophomore Jordan Hana Go stepped to the service line and reeled off five consecutive aces to draw the score even 9-9.

It was one of 11 ties in the set. It remained deadlocked into extras when Hana Go faded the block to tie it 24-24. But a Tomitas kill off the left side after a scrappy Crystal series forced set point. That’s when the Gryphons countered with their own serving threat in Sladewski, who clipped the tape with the ball favoring Crystal by dropping to Summit’s side of the floor for an ace.

Sladewski totaled five match aces, and finished off Game 3 with one as well. This time it really hurt, as the Gryphons overcame a middle-game deficit of 14-7. Sladewski had a chance to run the table in each of the last three sets, getting a service chance in Game 4 with Crystal at championship point up 24-23, but misfired into the net for a fault.

“I did give her more aggressive spots to make,” Crystal head coach Chelby Spray said, “and with more aggressive spots comes the risk. And we were both on the same page with that. So, even with that miss, that’s OK because she was still going for the aggression.”

But Crystal rode its secret weapon down the stretch in setter Kathy Zhang. The sophomore spent most of this season as an attacking setter with Spray leaning into the 6-2 offense. Crystal returned to a 5-1 offense during the final week of the regular season, though, and has gotten fast results.

Zhang’s experience at outside hitter came in handy in Game 4, though. With Crystal trailing 19-16, she won a 50-50 ball by getting enough height to power it down for one of her two match kills. Not only did it spark a 4-0 run that swung Crystal ahead, the emotion of the Gryphons’ celebration was one of the loudest of the match.

“It is kind of new ground because we just recently started running a 5-1 where I go all around,” Zhang said. “And my coaches have been coaching me to be aggressive at the net. ... I know I’m pretty short compared to the front row. So, I just try to get up as high as I can.”

It was just another comeback for the comeback-kid Gryphons, but Zhang said the thrill never gets old.

“It was just amazing,” Zhang said. “I mean, we were down maybe six points, but I knew we would get it. But it didn’t make the win any less emotional. The push was just phenomenal.”

It was Hennessey who finished out the win, taking a wonky-looking set from Zhang that has turned into a signature play for the Gryphons. Zhang took a perfect pass from sophomore Sabrina Lien and seemed to push it too tight to the net, but the result was Hennessey using her long reach to punch it up and over the block for a slice toward the sideline that Summit couldn’t scoop, setting off the Crystal celebration in the middle of the court.

“We talked about just the logistics of [Division V] teams, and us being very unique in having very strong, very powerful middles,” Spray said. “And we worked a lot with Kathy ... just working on that chemistry and that connection at practice, and giving them more tools to use. And they were incredibly smart tonight.”

The Black Bears have now qualified for the CCS finals in three of the last four seasons, but are still in search of their first section title.

Crystal now qualifies for the Nor Cal Division III tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Gryphons open Tuesday at home against No. 14 St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda. Start time is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Summit Shasta qualifies for Nor Cal Division IV as the No. 6 seed, opening Tuesday by hosting No. 11 Chico at 6 p.m.