M-A sophomore shines in CCS volleyball semifinals

Los Gatos (14-13) went on an 11-2 run, and eventually earned two set points, before M-A sophomore Gabriella Lowe emerged to save the day.

“I was definitely feeling comfortable,” Lowe said. “I thought it was going to be a clean sweep, but they had a comeback. But our energy was just high, so we came back and won it at the end.”

Lowe entered the game in the second set, and didn’t score her first match kill until she faded the block off the left side to tie it 23-all. Los Gatos freshman Stella Kanter responded by tooling the block off the left side to force set point. But Lowe was just getting warmed up, rallying her team back with three consecutive kills to close it out in extra-points.

M-A’s sophomore outside hitter finished with five match kills and a service ace, with four of those kills coming with Game 2 on the line.

“She’s been someone just integral to our lineup all season,” M-A head coach Denny Falls said. “So, just the first person off the bench in any pressure situation, someone who we can count on for sure.”

M-A was leading 17-11 in the set when Los Gatos freshman Lulu Farwell stepped to the service line. Not only did Farwell record two aces amid a 10-point service run en route to swinging the Wildcats ahead, her top-spin service chops set the tone for Los Gatos knocking the entire M-A serve receive off its game.

“They’re talented,” Falls said. “So, any one of their players going back to the serving line can get one of those runs started. It is tough, because it was a little bit like pulling up before the finish line, or dropping the ball before the end zone. Definitely a good lesson.”

Farwell went on to total a match-high five aces throughout.

“We were down big,” Los Gatos head coach Nicole Ciari said. “We talked about resilience. M-A is a really talented team, so even before coming in to this match, we had talked about how we were going to respond to them making great plays. Now, did I think we were going to be down 15-4? No. But I think having someone come in off the bench and get that massive service run, and just kind of shift the momentum back in our direction was the game-changer for us.”

The war carried over to the third set, a set that saw eight lead changes and was deadlocked as late as 23-23.

With the Bears trailing 17-15, the teams’ two middles — M-A senior Kayla Greenbaum and Los Gatos junior Silvia Miletich — got into a sparring match with a barrage of 50-50 balls flying back for four consecutive exchanges. M-A senior outside hitter Jocelyn Chang was manning the next directly to Greenbaum’s left and, as soon as M-A’s 5-10 middle was able to poke a ball straight up for a set on her side of the net, Chang spiked it down for a clutch kill and a critical point to keep it close.

“It was very nerve-wracking,” Chang said. “I think the adrenaline just pushed us to finish that off.”

Chang went on to finish with six kills, while junior outside hitter Sophia Marks scored 11 kills, two blocks and two aces, while Greenbaum scored a match-high 12 kills to go with two blocks.

Coming out of a timeout with Game 3 tied 23-all, M-A libero Kylie Winters received the serve to put the Bears in system for Marks to spin a shot off the inside of the Los Gatos block to score the kill to force a side-out and match point. Then Greenbaum stepped to the line and, after serving it up, raced to the front to record a dig for freshman setter Calista Chou to push it to the left pin for Marks to slam it home.

With the win, M-A advances to the the CCS finals for the ninth time in program history, a history that includes four Division I championships. The Bears will face No. 3 Milpitas for the title Saturday at Gunn High School in Palo Alto at 1 p.m.

“I think this will just bring us even more confidence,” Chang said of winning the semifinal war. “I think we know we’re able to get out of tough situations quickly, and we just have so much trust in our teammates, and the confidence now. I think it took us a while throughout our season to build it and to find that energy. But I think this should just really push us to that final game, and I think give us all the positivity and confidence we need to win it.”