Sequoia clinches Ocean Division title

With all that facing them, the Cherokees went out and claimed the Ocean title with a 25-21, 25-14, 25-14, 17-25, 15-9 win over Woodside. With only a week left in the regular season, even two losses next week could not prevent Sequoia from winning the title. Woodside is currently in second place with three league losses.

"Playing Woodside, having seniors playing their last (home) game (was enough to worry about)," said Sequoia coach Jane Slater.

Woodside, which was swept away in three straight the first time the two teams met this season, came out fired up to start the match, rallying from an 18-14 deficit to win the first game. The teams went back and forth until the final game when Sequoia junior Kelly Burke came on and secured the win for the Cherokees. Burke, who finished with 11 kills and two aces, missed most of the third game and sat out the fourth to give playing time to her teammate. When she came back in for Game 5, she responded with five kills.

"I got mad," Burke said. "I didn't get to go in the third and fourth games. [Game 5] is a short 15 points. You really have to push hard."

Burke was just the last of what seemed like a multitude of options at the Cherokees' disposal. Senior Mercedes Marchbanks had a match-high 15 kills while Heather Hoeft added eight.

"We're pretty well rounded," Slater said. "It's really nice. Every person that plays in the front can hit the ball. When one player isn't going well, we have other options."

That, Woodside coach Dennis Baldini said, was the difference in the match.

"Not enough firepower," he said. "They have a lot of weapons. [Burke] came on at the end and that hurt."

Not even Woodside's Diana Douglas, playing on a bum ankle, was enough to stop Sequoia (14-0 Ocean Division, 28-10 overall). Douglas, a junior, showed why she is one of the best players in the PAL. She finished with 14 kills and seven service aces, using a devastating jump serve to its full effectiveness.

With Woodside down 18-14 in Game 1, Douglas ripped off five straight aces to give the Wildcats a 19-18 lead as they went on to win 25-21.

"Diana's been ripping her jump serve the second half (of the league season)," Baldini said. "The only thing I do is try not to mess up her game."

Sequoia's Game 1 loss only appeared to make the Cherokees more determined. They crushed Woodside (11-3, 15-8) in Game 2, due in large part to 14 Woodside errors.

"I think we underestimated their play," Burke said. "The first time we played them we won in three."

Slater thought her team was flat after a bad week of practice.

"I think we came out real stale. We played really well in the Milpitas tournament (over the weekend) and came back with flat practices," Slater said. "They picked it up (in Game 2)."

The errors continued for Woodside in Game 3 and Sequoia did a better job receiving serves. The Cherokees had only nine kills in the third game while the Wildcats made 10 errors.

Instead of just packing it in during Game 4, Woodside rallied and forced the final game. The Wildcats continued their error-prone ways but came up with enough offense to offset 11 more mistakes. Woodside had 11 kills and used 11 Sequoia errors to pull out the 25-17 win.

Game 5 went back and forth early on, but Sequoia won eight of 10 points to go up 13-8. Kills from Burke and Jenna Jerkovich ended the match.

Despite the loss, Baldini was happy with the way his team performed.

"I'm very satisfied with our game. I was happy it went four (games)," Baldini said. "It very easily could have been three and out."