Nueva falls in CCS Division V finals

Then No. 1 Mt. Madonna-Watsonville (17-8 overall) said not so fast, reeling off an 11-1 run en route to a dramatic five-set victory 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 18-25, 15-13 to repeat as CCS Division V champions.

“I think that we were all feeling a little bit agitated because last year we didn’t make it [out of the first round off CCS] and this was the team that took us out,” Nueva junior Paige Mountanos said. “… I think emotionally we are disappointed but overall I’m really happy with how we played.”

There has been plenty to be happy about for Nueva this season. After previously getting eliminated in the first round of the CCS playoffs in 2016 and ’18, the Mavericks earned their program’s first CCS playoff victory last Tuesday in a four-set win over No. 3 Summit Shasta in the Division V quarterfinals. They followed two days later with another upset in the semifinals at No. 2 Crystal Springs Uplands.

By virtue of reaching the CCS finals, Nueva will now make its first CIF State Championship appearance Tuesday, hosting as the No. 2 seed in the Division V bracket against No. 15 East Nicolaus at 6 p.m.

But that wasn’t much of a consolation for Nueva after Saturday’s stunning fifth set. The Mavericks led late at 13-12 after Mountanos smoked her team-high 24th kill, including her fourth of Game 5. Mt. Madonna called a timeout to regroup, then reeled off 3 straight points, closing it out with a service ace from senior Paola Jacobs.

“I think a lot of it was a mental game,” Mountanos said. “I think that was also the reason we went to the fifth set is because we had gotten ourselves into these holes we weren’t able to climb out of.”

Nueva (20-8) lived and died with the left-side attack in the early going. Mountanos racked up six kills in the opening set, while her fellow junior outside hitter Willow Taylor Chiang Yang scored four kills in Game 1 en route to 20 match kills.

While Mountanos opened with an array of off-speed and tip shots, Mt. Madonna quickly adjusted in Game 2. Nueva’s leading hitter was held to just two kills in the second set.

“We only play each other at the end of the season,” Mavericks head coach Janelle Burnett said. “So, to see what a player can do, it takes a little while throughout the sets. But both teams go to their outsides a lot. So, at some point, it’s kind of obvious where the ball is going.”

In Game 3, though, Mountanos finally started blasting away.

“I think that kind of happened when as we realized it was more urgent and we needed to get more points,” Mountanos said. “Willow and I, we’ve played together for about seven years, so we communicate really well, and we’re able to tell each other what we’re supposed to be doing. And I think that’s when we started really ramping that up.”

Her shots started falling, but Mt. Madonna rode the hot hand of sophomore Liana Kitchel through an 11-0 streak to run away with Game 3. Kitchel would go on to record 18 match kills, while Jacobs ruled the court with a match-high 27 kills.

In Game 4, though, Mountanos enjoyed her best set, and the offense proved contagious. The Mavericks scored 18 team kills in Game 4, relying not only on Mountanos and Yang, but getting freshman middle Isabella Yalif in on the attack to score five kills along with two blocks in the set.

“Isabella has been working hard all season long,” Burnett said. “… For being a freshman she did an amazing job for us and has started to be one of our leading blockers.”

Yalif helped give Nueva some breathing room in the fourth set. With the Mavericks clinging to a 15-13 lead, senior middle Laura Schneider scored a kill, and Yalif followed with a block. After Mt. Madonna misfired wide, Yalif capped a 5-1 run by tooling the block through the middle. Yang closed out the Game 4 win with Nueva’s three final points, including a roll shot to end it.

While Game 5 was tied at 11 different junctures, Jacobs caught fire to the tune of seven kills in the set.

Jacobs finished with a gold-star double-double, adding 21 digs to her stat line. She was one of five Mt. Madonna players to record double-digit digs.

“They’re a scrappy team,” Burnett said. “So, it’s hard to get points when a team picks up everything. And it’s hard to get on a roll when their defense stops us.”