High school volleyball roundup: Cardinal Newman joins NBL logjam

Cardinal Newman's volleyball team knocked Windsor out of a first-place tie in the North Bay League on Tuesday night as the visiting Cardinals defeated the Jaguars in four sets.

With only Thursday's matches left in the regular season, there's a logjam at the top of the league standings.

Maria Carrillo sits alone in first place with an 11-2 record while Windsor, Cardinal Newman and Montgomery each have 10-3 marks. The Pumas visit the Cardinals Thursday night.

On Tuesday, Newman lost the first set 20-25 before regrouping to win three in a row: 25-17, 25-6 and 25-17.

Coach Jeff Nielson said his players were a little intimidated in the first set.

“There was a good-sized crowd and it was loud,” he said. “After the first game, we steadied out and began playing great defense.”

As the match progressed, the Newman hitters started finding holes and seams in the Windsor defense. The Cardinals serving was also a weapon, and they finished with 16 aces.

Natalie Codding was the key to the defense, as she had 27 digs. Lauren Jannicelli was the big hitter and finished with 15 kills. Cassie Killeen added nine kills while Julianna Filice knocked down six balls. Megan Vice handed out 31 assists.

For Windsor, Allison Post led the attack with 19 kills, while Bridget Aikawa had 32 assists.

Jaguars coach Rich Schwarz said Newman's serving turned the match.

“They served us off the court,” he said. “We needed to do a much better job returning.”

Windsor finishes league play against Rancho Cotate.

MARIA CARRILLO 3, RANCHO COTATE 0

At Maria Carrillo, the Pumas moved to the top spot in the league with a 25-13, 25-21, 25-12 victory.

“We're playing really great defense the past few games,” coach Ally Deal said. “We've been able to stay in long rallies and eventually win the point.”

The home team had a balanced offense against the Cougars.

Stephanie DeVault had the most kills with nine, while Amanda Wright and Ashley Jacob finished with eight apiece. Gabbie Picano had eight to go along with 19 digs.

Samantha Hobbs also had a big night with 26 assists, 10 digs and eight aces.

The Pumas are in the midst of a busy week. They beat Ukiah on Monday and after facing Newman on Thursday, they'll travel to San Ramon for a tournament on Saturday.

MONTGOMERY 3, SANTA ROSA 1

At Santa Rosa, the Vikings kept their title hopes alive with a 25-21, 25-19, 21-25 and 25-22 victory.

Mckenna LaForge led the offense with 18 kills and 15 digs. Lana Rodman had 17 digs.

“We weren't at our sharpest early in the match,” Montgomery coach Becky Stavropoulos said. “We showed mental toughness to finish it off in four.”

Santa Rosa got seven kills from Brooke Essner while Makenzie Oden contributed 25 assists and Gillian Kwok was credited with 12 digs.

“We're young and this was the best game we've played as a team this season,” Panthers coach Amber Oden said.

UKIAH 3, CASA GRANDE 1

At Ukiah, the Wildcats improved to 13-13 on the season.

The scores were 25-17, 25-23, 23-25 and 25-18.

Emily Eaton had one of her most productive games of the year with 15 kills and four aces. Leila Achtoun finished with four kills and three blocks.

For the Gauchos, Kiley Cramer and Makenna Mattei led the way with eight kills apiece.

Nadia Kaveh dished out 14 assists.

PETALUMA 3, ANALY 0

At Petaluma, the Trojans advanced to the championship game of the SCL tournament. They beat the Tigers 25-23, 25-17 and 25-22.

Petaluma will play at top-seeded Sonoma Valley on Thursday. The Dragons dispatched Healdsburg in straight sets in the opening round.

Against Analy, Juliana Bertolucci had 33 assists and Sianna DeCarli knocked down 13 kills.