Mercy-Burlingame eliminated in Nor Cal volleyball playoffs

A comeback victory from seven points down late in Game 1, and extra-points battles in games 1 and 3 were not enough to help Mercy against the defending CIF Division III state champions.

“Luckily, we had home games (in the playoffs), which really helped the crowd, as well as the team,” Mercy head coach Ray Sum said. “And that’s what brought us here today, knowing that we were going to play them from last season and hoping that we’d have the advantage of being smarter. But we just didn’t bring our ‘A’ game today.”

The Falcons brought a lively contingent of fans who cheered as loudly as the Mercy side, and their high-octane team did not disappoint.

“I was definitely expecting them to be one of the toughest teams we’ve played so far, and they definitely pulled through,” Mercy senior Jenna Manuel said. “But compared to last year, they were definitely the same with the strong front row, middles and then their setter being really strong.”

The two teams met last year, in San Anselmo, in the Northern California Division III regional championship match, with Archie Williams (formerly Sir Francis Drake High School) sweeping 25-18, 25-22, 25-22 into the state finals.

“Honestly, the fact that they were state champs didn’t really phase us,” Mercy senior Juliana Mufarreh said. “We came in really confident. We really believed in ourselves, and believed in each other, and believed in the team. … We’re still super proud of ourselves. We’ve come so far, and we still love each other. It’s obviously hard times, it’s a lot of our last games, but we’re still proud of each other.”

Mufarreh scored a team-high 15 kills, including the last one of her varsity career, a Game 4 jolt off the left side to close the deficit to 15-10. From there, Archie Williams senior outside hitter Lindsey Jones sparked a 5-1 run with a right-side bolt off a backset from senior Reese Frasier.

Jones finished with a match-high 17 kills and was one of a multi-taloned attack by the Falcons. Senior middle blocker Katie Griffiths added 12 kills, junior outside hitter Rainey Preston had 10, while Fraser and sophomore middle Felicity Brown scored nine apiece.

Mercy opened with a spirited Game 1 comeback, though, overcoming a 23-17 deficit to force extra-points, and dodge three Archie Williams set points to grind out the win.

Clutch digs from junior Ava Cacao and senior Nicole Vo on a frenzied rally, followed by Mufarreh terminating off the left side, helped the Bears earn their first set point at 25-24. The Falcons staved off another set point at 26-25 and swung the advantage to 27-26 on a dive-bomb dump attack by Fraser. Then tied 28-28, the Falcons misfired long, and Mercy junior middle Sadie McCulloch finished a long rally with a block to end it, giving the Bears the early advantage.

“It just takes mental strength,” Mufarreh said of the comeback. “We work at it the whole season. … It takes trust.”

Murarreh pointed to Mercy’s two wins over Notre Dame-Belmont in the West Bay Athletic League regular season that helped build that mental strength. The Bears swept the two-match season series from the Tigers. All told, the four-set and five-set wins saw three sets go to extra-points, including 30-28 victory in the deciding set of their first matchup.

“Our games against Notre Dame-Belmont, those always go super long,” Mufarreh said. “So, we know how to fight.”

Archie Williams retooled its middle attack in Game 2, and quickly opened things up for the other hitters. Griffiths was nearly flawless with her shots, scoring the first point of the second set. The Falcons again were the first team to 20, but a 20-16 lead was shrunk to 1 when their cross-shot missed wide of the sideline to make it 22-21. Griffiths, though, closed out the set, sparking a 3-0 run with a blast through the middle and capping it by blocking Mufarreh on the left side to even the match at a game apiece.

Griffiths would score five kills on five swings in Game 3, but again Mercy battled late into the set. The Bears jumped out to an early 9-5 lead, winning a forever rally that was undoubtedly one of the longest of the season. Junior middle Mia Ferdinand, who finished the night with 13 kills and four blocks, won the exhausting back-and-forth with a block.

“While you’re in the rally, all you’re focused on is: ‘Get the point! Get the point! Put the ball away!’” Mufarreh said. “You try to settle down, make sure nobody’s freaking out, everyone’s doing their job. And when the rally ends, it’s always just a sigh of relief, especially when we get the point. … Obviously you just try to catch your breath.”

The Bears, though, followed with a service fault to start a 4-1 Falcons run. Archie Williams soon took the lead 14-13. Despite forcing extra-points, Mercy would never lead again in the set, or in the match. The Falcons closed out Game 3 with Brown tooling the block through the middle. They opened Game 4 on a 7-2 run and led comfortably the rest of the way.

Sum said a flurry of lineup changes helped spur the early comebacks.

“It works towards the beginning, but it came down to, ultimately, we didn’t have a good serve receive at all tonight,” Sum said.

Junior outside hitter Ava Cacao finished with 10 kills, and senior Kylie Sok totaled six for the Bears.

Mercy graduates six seniors off this year’s roster, including four of Saturday’s starting seven.

“The senior class, it’s a big chunk of the team,” Mufarreh said, “but I have no doubt that the team will recoup next year and come back out just as strong.”

Archie Williams advances to the Nor Cal Division III regional finals for the second straight year. The Falcons will host No. 13 Ripon Christian, Tuesday night at 6 p.m. The winner of that match will advance to the CIF state championships, this coming Saturday, at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.

Notre Dame-Belmont falls in DII regional semis

No. 7 Notre Dame-Belmont (19-12) saw its season come to an end with a 25-21, 25-11, 27-25 sweep at No. 3 Sacred Heart Cathedral in the CIF Northern California Division II regional semifinals Saturday night in San Francisco.

Sophomore outside hitter Gia Rivera capped a remarkable season with a double-double, totaling 19 kills and 16 digs. Rivera hit at a .308 clip, while the Tigers managed just a .105 hitting percentage as a team. Senior setter Jessica Ai finished with a team-high 19 digs.

SHC (25-14) now advances to the Division II regional finals to host No. 5 Clovis North, Tuesday at 6 p.m.