Notre Dame-Belmont finds footing, sweeps CCS volleyball opener on the Coastside

It was the first time in weeks NDB has been able to celebrate on the volleyball court. The Tigers not only entered the postseason riding a four-match losing streak, they finished dead last in the West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division, going winless through eight league matches on the year.

“We’ve had to dig ourselves out many times,” Agresti said. “So, it wasn’t an odd feeling to have to dig our way out. But we did it like we knew they could.”

Agresti has been fighting through lineup woes all season, asking personnel to play new positions, trying to find a winning combination. The latest lineup shakeup came last week, when the 13th-year head coach switched NDB’s notorious one-setter offense to a 6-2 lineup.

“It’s definitely a new thing that we’ve been doing,” NDB outside hitter Gia Rivera said. “We usually have one setter. But I think two setters is beneficial to get different touches with different types of setters.”

Rivera moved around the court and was throwing haymakers from the outset en route to a match-high 16 kills. To put the 6-foot junior’s performance into perspective, Half Moon Bay totaled 17 match kills as a team.

“I’ll tell you what, Notre Dame came and executed really well,” HMB head coach Mike Inglis said. “We did not. It was definitely not our best game. But props to them. They didn’t give us a break when we made our mistakes and didn’t execute on our side. So, they definitely were the better team today.”

Junior setters Arianna Juarez and Camilla Qaqundah fed Rivera consistently, but NDB got clutch swings from other spots in key moments early in Game 1.

With the Tigers breaking a 7-7 tie, freshman middle Amelia MacDonnell sparked a 7-0 run with one of her seven match kills through the middle. Then, when Rivera got rejected on a hard attempt off the left pin, NDB kept the ball up for sophomore Sammy Kakala to score on the second effort off the right side to make it 10-7. MacDonnell pushed it to 13-7 with one of her match-high four blocks.

NDB led comfortably from there as Rivera cleaned up the opening set, finishing it out with an explosive cross off the left side. It was a commanding start for the underdog Tigers, who haven’t opened a CCS tournament against a high-seeded opponent since qualifying for the Open Division bracket in 2019.

“My expectation was just to come in and play, and battle it,” Rivera said. “It doesn’t matter, seedings, to me. I just play whoever we play. Just battle. It’s all you can do.”

After a lackadaisical start, HMB (20-12) woke up in the second set when senior Lillian Unruh stepped to the service line. With the Cougars trailing 8-5, the defensive specialist fired a quick ace to spark an 8-0 run.

“I think I’ve gotten better,” Unruh said. “This season I’ve been working on my serving.”

The senior shared a match-high four aces with Rivera. Three of Unruh’s aces were scored on her big Game 2 run.

“With serving, I’m not so worried about aces,” Inglis said. “With what we do, we try to get teams out of system. But we have to get our serves in in order to do that, and we’re usually a more consistent serving team. It was just kind of a weird day. I feel like things that we did really well almost all of the season, we just didn’t do well today. ... Lillian did a great job of giving us the opportunity. But then we’d make a mistake or something, or they just executed.”

NDB got Unruh off the service line with a roof from senior Paige Lambert, her first of two blocks in the match. The Tigers then went on a 7-1 run, overtaking HMB at 15-15 when MacDonnell slapped back an overpass. HMB stayed even until 19-19 when Unruh showed ups to score a left-side floater. But NDB took the lead back on a Cougars service error, Rivera backed it up with an ace to push the lead to 21-19, and the Tigers finished on a 6-1 run to take a commanding lead into the third set.

The Tigers’ revamped 6-2 caused some hiccups, as they were called for several rotation errors throughout. However, HMB gave the points back, and then some, getting called for four double contacts in the match.

“I think this game was just tough for our setters,” Unruh said. “Our setters are usually very clean, but I think the refs, the reffing was also harder.”

By Game 3, it was apparent NDB’s double- and triple-blocking schemes were keeping the Cougars’ middles on lockdown. HMB senior middle Gabby Harrison entered the day with an impressive .383 hitting percentage on the year. The Tigers limited her to a team-high five kills, with three of them coming in the final set after NDB went on a 6-0 run to take a comfortable 9-4 lead.

“The other thing was our setters and hitters weren’t connecting well today,” Inglis said. “And they usually connect better than they did. So, some of it was — again, not to take anything away from Notre Dame — on our side, we just weren’t able to execute the things that we had gotten used to being able to do pretty regularly.”

HMB freshman outside hitter Caoimhe Gallagher, and senior Amelia Ortolan added three kills apiece. Gallagher scored two aces. Junior middle Aaron Lester scored a team-high three blocks.

It was an emotional scene for the Cougars following the elimination loss. HMB enjoyed a 20-win season for the first time since 2021, and earned the PAL Ocean Division championship for the fourth time in program history.

“I’m a senior so this is my last game,” Unruh said. “Our team, they fought hard until the end. This is just a hard way to end out the season. And I’m really going to miss them, but I think that we worked hard for the entire season. And we won first in our league, so that’s good.”

“This team is very special,” Inglis said. “They really came together all season long, and just enjoyed each others company. I think everybody’s sad that it’s over. ... I think everybody is like — we would totally keep going if we could.”

With the win, NDB advances to the Division IV quarterfinals, Tuesday at 6 p.m., at No. 2 Carmel. On the same side of the bracket, No. 3 Sacred Heart Prep hosts No. 6 Pacific Grove at 7 p.m.

Open Division

No. 1 Mitty 3, No. 8 Burlingame 0

The top-seeded Monarchs (27-5) did when top seeds do, rolling past Burlingame with a 25-17, 25-21, 25-16 sweep in San Jose. The Panthers (20-7) were led by senior outside hitter Ella Duong, who totaled 10 kills and three aces, while senior Jordan Toomey shared the team-high with three aces. Senior middle Abbi Auffhauser scored a team-high three blocks, while junior Ava Scatena recorded two. Senior setter Jillian Kiniris finished with 15 assists. Burlingame totaled just 15 team digs throughout.

With the win, Mitty advances to the semifinals to face No. 4 St. Ignatius, Wednesday, at Mitty. Start time it 6 p.m.

No. 2 St. Francis 3, No. 7 Mercy-Burlingame 1

The Bears (22-6) earned a Game 2 win, but St. Francis (26-5) fired back for a 25-23, 14-25, 25-20, 25-11 victory in Mountain View. Senior middle Mia Ferdinand led Mercy with 13 kills, swinging at a .579 clip, while adding four blocks and two aces. Senior Ava Cacao and junior Sadie McCulloh added four blocks apiece to share the team-high, while senior Lana Trehan added two aces. Cacao was limited to six kills on 38 attempts, and totaled 10 digs, and senior libero Amira Festejo Rivera recorded 14 digs.

St. Francis advances to host No. 3 Palo Alto in Tuesday’s semifinals.

No. 3 Palo Alto 3, No. 6 Menlo-Atherton 2

The Bears (25-8) suffered a five-set heartbreaker, dropping Game 5 in extra-points in a 20-25, 25-13, 26-24, 21-25, 16-14 loss at No. 3 Palo Alto (30-4). It marks the first 30-win season for the Lady Vikings since 2011. Palo Alto will now travel to No. 2 St. Francis for Tuesday’s semifinal. Start time is 7 p.m.

Division I

No. 9 Sequoia 3, No. 8 Los Altos 2

The Ravens (14-19) rallied on the road for a dramatic five-set win 25-10, 24-26, 25-11, 23-25, 15-14 at No. 8 Los Altos (13-20). Sequoia trailed 8-5 in the fifth set when recent junior-varsity call-up Karina Kumar stepped to the service line to tie it. Senior outside hitter Gianna Federighi finished with 18 kills and four aces, and freshman middle Samantha McMurtry totaled nine kills. Sophomore setter Jayda McGlennon was credited with 42 assists.

Sequoia now advances to the Division I quarterfinals Tuesday at No. 1 Homestead. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Division III

No. 10 Capuchino 3, No. 7 Monterey 0

The Lady Mustangs (19-9) advanced with a 25-23, 25-14, 25-22 sweep at No. 7 Monterey (19-13). Cap now advances to the Division III quarterfinals and will travel to No. 2 King City, Tuesday, for a 7 p.m. start.

Division IV

No. 9 Menlo 3, No. 8 Harker 0

The Lady Knights (15-14) advanced through the first round with a 25-21, 27-25, 25-20 win at No. 8 Harker (18-9). Menlo now advances to the quarterfinals, and will travel to No. 1 Harbor. Tuesday’s start is slated for 7 p.m.

Division V

No. 8 Nueva 3, No. 9 BASIS 0

The Mavericks (12-11) swept through the opening round with a 25-17, 25-23, 25-21 win over BASIS-San Jose (13-1). It was the first official loss in school history for the Bobcats. With the win, Nueva gets a shot at its rival, traveling to Tuesday’s quarterfinal at No. 1 Summit Shasta. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.