Hillsdale volleyball into CCS semis

2022 saw the Knights finish third in the Bay Division standings, earning the No. 3 seed in the CCS Division II bracket. After a first-round bye, Hillsdale hosted sixth-seeded San Mateo in a quarterfinal match Tuesday.

The Bearcats were coming off a solid 2022 season of their own, taking eventual Ocean Division champion Capuchino to the final day of the regular season before conceding the title.

The Bearcats opened CCS Saturday with a grueling five-set victory over No. 11 Sobrato.

There would be no Cinderella story for San Mateo, however, as Hillsdale simply had too much firepower and swept its way into the semifinals with a 25-17, 25-18, 25-16 win over their crosstown rival.

“They did what I asked them to do — execute,” said Hillsdale head coach Dwight Crump. ‘You get down, you execute. You get up, you execute. If you accomplish all that, you’ll be successful.”

Hillsdale (24-10) will go on the road for its semifinal match when the Knights take on No. 2 Monta Vista-Cupertino (21-8) at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Matadors  swept No. 7 Westmont. Also looming in No. 1 Aragon, which dominated No. 8 Prospect, 25-14, 25-10, 25-11.

As scrappy a fight San Mateo (19-9) put up, Hillsdale simply had more scrappiness and a more potent offense. Hillsdale was led by Ella Jensen and Natasha Abbaszadeh, who both had 10 kills. Ashley Driscoll added eight kills, Vivien Gilbert had seven and Rachel Reed chipped in with six.

The Hillsdale offense was directed by setter Rianna Liu, who dished out 37 assists, while libero Allison Khau had 10 of the Knights’ 39 digs.

San Mateo managed to hang with Hillsdale early in each set, but each time the Knights pulled away for the win.

“Hillsdale played a strong match,” said San Mateo head coach Andoni Javellana said. “We played as well as I could have hoped.”

Both teams started strong in Game 1, with the Bearcats answering a 3-0 Hillsdale start with a pair of kills from Claire Kuziemko and one from Boncore Sarah. The Knights eventually pulled out to a 12-5 advantage, but the Bearcats kept working, closing to 16-12 following a Hillsdale net violation.

The next point was the best of the match and the longest rally of any of the sets. When Hillsdale finally put it away, Javellana immediately called a timeout.

But instead of slowing Hillsdale’s momentum, Javellana actually wanted to pump up his team.

“It was a big swing, but it was more of a swing for us,” Javellana said. “I saw that they were willing to play the way we play.”

San Mateo, however, could not take advantage. After an Audrey Shao kill, Hillsdale scored the next four points, getting kills from Abbaszadeh, Driscoll and Liu for a 21-13 advantage on its way to the 25-17 set win.

The second set was nip-and-tuck for the first half, with five ties and two lead changes early on.

But with Hillsdale trailing 8-7, the Knights scored four points in a row to take control of the set with an 11-8 advantage.

The Bearcats would eventually close to 13-12, but would get no closer as Hillsdale went on a game-defining 6-0 run for a 19-12 lead which the Knights would push to a 25-18 win.

The Knights got off to a sloppy start to Game 3, as eight of San Mateo’s first nine points of the set came off Hillsdale errors.

Down 9-5, the Knights, once again, went on a run, winning six of the next nine points to close to 13-11.

Another 5-0 run gave the Knights control, 16-13, and they closed it out from there, giving up only three more points the rest of the way.

Despite not spending much time thinking about the past, Crump did acknowledge the experience gained from that 2021 season has rubbed off on the 2022 edition of the Knights.

“Our focus wasn’t to harp on last year,” Crump said. “But all those girls (from last year) now playing got an opportunity to learn from our vets.

“That’s what is carrying us now.”