Sequoia pounds Hillsdale

The possibility of that is slim to none. Everyone in attendance at the Sequoia High gymnasium saw a balanced, deep, athletic and confident team that just might be the favorite to win the Ocean Division championship. The Cherokees (1-0 Ocean, 2-1 overall) never relented in their attack. Mercedes Marchbanks at times wowed the home crowd with some booming kills, finishing with a game-high 11 putaways. Heather Hoeft had seven and Jenna Jerkovich had 10 kills on just 14 attempts, a gaudy .714 hitting percentage.

"That was the best match I've ever seen Jenna play," Sequoia coach Jane Slater said. "She was swinging real hard and Mercedes made a couple of intimidating shots that set the tone. The girls' stayed focused. We never talk about winning (titles or getting to the playoffs). We just go on a match-by-match basis."

Game 2 was by far the most competitive out of the three. There were four ties and five lead changes when Sequoia sophomore Claire Louie took over. With her team clinging to an 11-9 lead, the precocious 5-6 setter simply went off, running off seven consecutive service aces.

The Cherokees went on a decisive 10-0 run on Louie's serve to easily pull away for the Game 2 victory. Louie served short, deep, near the sidelines, with spin and velocity and just about every which way you can possibly serve it without breaking some law. She finished with 13 aces and attributed her serving tour de force to anger.

"When I'm serving, I get a little mad and just hit it as hard as I can," said Louie, who also pumped out 30 assists. "We lost a tough match last week (five-game defeat to Cupertino) and I wanted to win bad today. I just want to get everyone pumped up. We work well together as a team and that's probably our best characteristic."

Hillsdale (1-4, 0-1) managed to stay close early in Game 1. Its right side blocking was effective as Lauren Rosaia, Emily Thomas, Mihoko Inoue and Bridget Majoulet combined for 12 blocks. Stephanie Bautista's kill tied things at 4 before Sequoia responded with a 7-0 run, highlighted by three aces from Alexis Fletcher, who finished with six service winners.

The Cherokees' serving prowess paid off in the form of 23 aces, a staggering amount considering they never had more than 10 as a team in any game a year ago. Rosaia led the Knights with eight kills, while Brittany Wrightson produced flawless pass after flawless pass and finished with 11 digs.

"We played well at times but just fell apart in the second game," Rosaia said. "She (Louie) had a great serve, but we put our heads down after the first couple of aces and it turned worse after that. I think everyone on this team has to want it and just push harder."

Added Bradley: "We have to be quicker out there. Our blocking was great and hopefully we'll keep improving in that part of our game. Sequoia was quick and explosive and it's good we have a team like that in our league. It shows us what we need to do to get to that level."

Sequoia's Kelly Burke had five kills, while Marchbanks and defensive specialist Molly Lenahan sparked the Cherokees with a number of excellent passes.

"The one thing we can improve on is our defense," Slater said. "I'd like to get a little more blocking, but other than that, I was able to get everyone in and play a couple of different rotations. The girls are confident and it showed today."