Mitty takes down Menlo in CCS Open Division volleyball finals

In the world of the Central Coast Section, the Monarchs reign supreme. No. 1-seed MItty (33-7) proved its championship pedigree by claiming the Open Division crown — the program’s 24th all-time CCS championship — Saturday at Gunn High School by sweeping past No. 3 Menlo 30-28, 25-19, 25-21.

“I’m happy with the way we played,” Menlo head coach Tony Holland said. “They’re just really good.”

Mitty, the alma mater of three-time Olympic champion beach volleyball legend Kerri Walsh Jennings, opened a new chapter in its program’s storied history. Saturday marked the first CCS championship for new head coach Jon Wallace, who took over for longtime coach Bret Almazan-Cezar, owner of 15 of the program’s CCS titles.

Wallace’s Monarchs proved just as dangerous, albeit having a bit more flair for the dramatic. Menlo opened the match with a head of steam, jumping out to a 17-10 lead in Game 1.

Senior outside hitter Sharon Nejad was fronting a potent attack by the Lady Knights. Nejad would ultimately share the match-high of 17 kills, including nine in the first set.

“I think we perform pretty well under pressure,” Menlo senior Hanna Hoffman said. “And Sharon, she really took it upon herself to create some energy and find those open spots on the court. And she really was a huge aspect of our team tonight.”

But after a net violation negated an apparent Nejad kill to make it 17-11, everything came crashing down for Menlo.

“I think it was more of our serve and pass game that we just kind of let go of,” Hoffman said. “We just loosened up a little bit too much because I think we were like: ‘Oh, we have this 7-point lead … let’s just loosen up.’ And, unfortunately, we did that too much. And then we just kept letting the points get away from us.”

Mitty went on runs of 5-0 and 7-1, and ultimately tied it at 20 when a Menlo shot misfired long. After the Monarchs took a 22-21 lead on a tight cross-shot off the left side from junior Audrey Liddle, an eerie foreshadowing of things to come for Menlo struck when Mitty offered up the following serve.

As Mitty junior Demi Harris was about to strike the ball, a mysterious series of bleeps and bloops echoed like R2-D2 over the public address system, causing Harris to service fault. Instead of the play tying the score, however, the referee negated the point by ruling a serve over.

While the Knights went on to overcome a 24-22 deficit by earning four set points during extra-points, Mitty ultimately turned to senior outside hitter Kendra MacDonald. The UC Irvine commit tied it at 28 with a bolt off the left pin. Then after senior setter Reese Reed served up an ace, MacDonald finished off the set with a power cross from the left side — then continued to wreak havoc by matching Nejad’s match-high with 17 kills.

“We knew she would,” Holland said. “We know who she is, we know she’s good. Again, we know they have a variety of options on the other side of the net.”

Menlo opened another early lead in Game 2 at 7-2, but soon got stuck on 8 as Mitty responded with a 10-1 run. MacDonald fronted the attack while Reed kept the Menlo defense guessing with occasional passes to Liddle and senior outside hitter Reagan Dryden. MacDonald, though, went for eight kills in the set.

After taking a 9-8 lead in the set, Mitty never trailed again in the match.

“They presented some matchup problems for us,” Holland said, “and I think we did a pretty good job of neutralizing those in the first set, and then we kind of fell behind in sets 2 and 3 and then we were just trading points; and that was what we knew we couldn’t do. But good teams are going to do that. So, hats off to them.”

The Monarchs laid claim early in Game 3, opening on a 6-0 run. Other than Nejad, Menlo’s other attacking options were neutralized. The Knights finished the match with just 30 team kills. Hoffman and senior outside hitter Simone Adam finished with five kills apiece, while sophomore opposite Cleo Hardin totaled three kills and two blocks.

“We were popping up on a lot of first balls,” Holland said. “So, we were initiating our offense from 13, 14, 15 feet off the net. … We tried to run a faster offense, and it’s really hard if you’re passing the ball that far off the net. I think we were a little impatient because they were a little bit slower, in terms of the serving and in terms of the way they attack … so it really took us out of our flow.”

Mitty is now 3-0 against Menlo this season. The two teams have one more chance to meet after both qualifying for the CIF State Girls’ Volleyball Championships Open Division tournament, opening Wednesday.

Seeded on opposite sides of the Northern California bracket, No. 2 Mitty hosts No. 7 Branson. No. 4 Menlo hosts No. 5 Clovis West. Both matches are slated to start at 6 p.m.