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In an absolutely incredible week, the Foothill High girls’ volleyball team went 3-0 in the CIF State NorCal regionals to advance to one step from playing for a state title.
The Falcons came into the Division I Regionals the No. 5 seed after losing two games in the North Coast Section Open playoffs.
Nothing was easy in the first two rounds.
In the opener, the Falcons hosted Christian Brothers of Sacramento and jumped out to a 2-0 set lead before Christian Brothers took two straight, forcing the fifth set.
Foothill righted the ship and roared to a 15-7 win and a spot in the semifinals.
Highlights came from five players with double-digit kills: Kaycie Burdick (18), Paige Nelson (13), Sophia Burdick (13), Lulu Hoenninger (12) and Kait Vogel (10). Brooke Stedman added 23 assists and Olivia So led the team in digs with 21.
That sent them to James Logan for the second round, a team the Falcons had lost to twice this year, including the NorCal Open third-place game.
So, when the Falcons fell behind 2-0 in sets, things didn’t look great. But back they charged back and took set three 25-5, keeping the season alive.
After trailing 20-16 in the fourth set, they were forced to rally again — and did just that, winning 25-22 to square the match. A 15-11 win in the fifth set sent Foothill to the semifinals.
This time it was Kaycie Burdick (24 kills, 16 digs), Nelson (40 assists, 6 blocks, 2 aces), Sophia Burdick (10 kills, 4 blocks) and Hoenninger (8 kills, 7 blocks) that got it done.
That brought the semifinals on Saturday when Foothill had to travel to top-seeded Folsom, a team that had beaten Foothill earlier in the season.
The Falcons started great, taking the first set 25-19, but Folsom drew even with a 25-23 win in the second set. This time Foothill surged, taking the next two sets 25-18, 25-13 to advance to the NorCal finals.
Highlights came from Kaycie Burdick (27 kills, 16 digs), Nelson (51 assists, 5 service points), Hoenninger (12 kills, 3 blocks) and Vogel (15 kills, 11 digs, 9 service points).
The win sent the Falcons to the statewide semifinals, where they will host No. 6 seed Redwood, a team Foothill beat 3-1 in the first round of NCS. The match is set for Tuesday night (Nov. 19).
Football semis
The NCS Division II semifinals sees No. 2 Amador Valley (7-4) hosting No. 3 Windsor (8-3), with a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday night (Nov. 22).
The Dons have been an offensive juggernaut this year and have not scored fewer than 28 points since Sept. 23 when they beat Acalanes 24-23.
The player leading the way is senior quarterback Tristan Ti’a. Ti’a has thrown for 3,039 yards, hitting 76% of his passes and 25 touchdowns with only three interceptions.
If he can’t find a receiver, Ti’a has run for 816 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Anthony Harrington has been on the other end of Ti’a’s passes 69 times for 1,179 yards and seven touchdowns. Kade Robertson has been a big play receiver as he’s caught seven touchdowns with only 21 receptions.
Windsor is led by sophomore quarterback Carter Vose, who has 1,025 yards passing and 11 touchdowns with seven interceptions.
Wyatt Morris has 891 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. Hayden Anderson is the top receiver with 31 catches for 655 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Winter sports starting
It’s almost time to step fully into the winter sports season, which means time to ask for some help getting results for our hard-working athletes!
You can send everything by Sunday at noon, or throughout the week. Either works great by me; just send to acesmag@aol.com.
Finally — please don’t be that person that only sends results when you win! A simple question: Are the kids any less worthy when they lose a game?
Thanks, and have a great season!
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
