Road warrior Burlingame defies the odds, captures CCS Division III volleyball title

Add to the chaos, Burlingame head coach Hannah Korslund is the varsity program’s fourth coach in four years. That didn’t stop Korslund’s Panthers from following the unlikely road of claiming the CCS Division III championship Saturday at Gunn High School with a 25-21, 17-25, 25-21, 25-23 victory over No. 3 Sacred Heart Cathedral (22-14).

“It certainly was the goal,” Korslund said, “but I was just hoping that they’d play well and have a good time and enjoy the high school volleyball experience. It’s nice to get a big trophy, though, for sure.”

The CCS crown is Burlingame’s fourth all-time, and its third in the past four postseasons. The Panthers won their first section championship in 2016 with Nilo Mauricio at the helm. They went on to earn CCS titles in 2019 under K’Lynn Solt and in 2021 under Nick Monroe. In 2022, Nga Tran took over the program.

Senior outside hitter Morgan Toomey is one of six Panthers who have played for three coaches in three years. That nucleus of players — including seniors Victoria Happ, Sophia Knifsend and Maddie Langlinais, and juniors Abbi Aufhauser and Ella Duong — is central to Burlingame’s survival through an unprecedented high school experience that, let’s not forget, started with four of them losing their freshman year to the pandemic.

“It’s very different but I think we’ve more relied on our team dynamic to stay tight, no matter who’s coaching us,” Toomey said.

All the adversity seemed to serve Burlingame well through a tumultuous fourth and final set against a tenacious SHC defense. The Panthers went up 14-6 in Game 4 and would lead comfortably until earning four match points with a 24-19 advantage, only to see the Fightin’ Irish relentlessly grind it down to a one-point margin.

Then, clinging to a 24-23 lead, the Panthers put it away, with Knifsend setting Toomey off the left side for a bolt off the block to score championship point.

“We had a pretty big lead and we let it go,” Toomey said. “But I think our adrenaline was kicking in toward the end. We just wanted to get it over with. And I just wanted to get that match point.”

Toomey and Duong were in fine form, especially in a contentious Game 3 with the match hanging in the balance. With the set deadlocked 14-14, Toomey leveraged the lead by tooling the block off the left side. Duong soon drilled a coffin corner laser to up the lead to 17-15. Toomey totaled seven kills and a block in the third set, while Duong tallied five kills and an ace.

But it was the defense of Knifsend late in the set that steadied the pivotal Game 3 win for the Panthers. After SHC misfired long to make it 18-15, Knifsend seized on the momentum as she produced a highlight-reel diving dig in the back row, keeping it alive for southpaw Samantha Hollrah to terminate off the right pin with a shot that clipped the backline to make it 19-15.

The Panthers then turned to the back-row attack, a tactic they only used twice in the match. Those set plays came nearly consecutively, with Toomey putting down a kill from behind the attack line to make it 21-17. Duong followed with a crisp pipe shot to make it 22-19.

Of the combination of Toomey and Duong, Korslund said: “They’ve taken on a lot of tough situations for us, they get big kills in system. They’re just consistent as our go-tos, so we’re really grateful to have them and for them to be so tough.”

Knifsend maintained her clutch back-row defense through the end of Game 3. One of Burlingame’s two setters in a modified 5-1 offense, Knifsend plays the back row while junior Jillian Kiniris rotates through the front. Kiniris turned in a defensive gem that helped maintain an early lead in Game 4, covering ground with a long dive through the front row on a point that kept the Panthers in front 4-2.

“Today we really showed up,” Knifsend said. “We put a lot of effort out there and I think our defense really showed that.”

SHC senior opposite Rachel Mak totaled nine match kills, including seven in Game 4 to give Burlingame fits. But it was the Irish’s defense that kept them in it, prolonging forever rallies time and again.

“We played them before … so we were expecting that,” Knifsend said. “They have a really good defensive team and they’re super scrappy. So, we just knew we also had to hold up our defense and play just as scrappy.”

It was SHC’s front row that nearly swung the balance of Game 4 though. With Burlingame up 22-15, SHC junior Sofie Daters floated a hook shot for a kill, sparking an 8-2 run. Senior middle Meghan Williams added a clever tip to make it 23-17, and Mak followed with three kills down the stretch to get the Irish to within 1.

“I think toward the end they almost got a little afraid to win and put a little too much pressure on themselves,” Korslund said. “But they settled in nicely … letting Morgan Toomey get a big kill at the end.”

Burlingame now advances to the CIF State Championships, opening Tuesday. Brackets will be announced Sunday.