WATSONVILLE — St. Francis and Mt. Madonna last saw each other three weeks ago.
For Mt. Madonna, it seemed like just a few nights ago.
“We wanted that revenge,” said Mt. Madonna junior outside hitter Mara Peruzzi. “We lacked energy last time we played. We really brought out that energy and that fight. That carried us.”
With energy to spare and a couple of bounces here and there, No. 2 Mt. Madonna swept the No. 3-seeded St. Francis High Sharks 25-19, 25-22, 25-21 to advance to Friday’s Central Coast Section Division V championship game back at Watsonville High.
It will be Mt. Madonna’s (16-10) first CCS final appearance since the 2014 season and the Hawks will meet top-seeded and undefeated Santa Catalina School, a three-game winner over Notre Dame-Salinas that has not lost a match to a CCS opponent since 2015.
The Cougars (24-0) have advanced to the D-V final in three straight seasons and are the defending champions.
The Hawks, who also clinched a spot in the California Interscholastic Federation Northern California playoffs with the win, know they will be the underdogs.
They’re more than happy in the role.
“We’ve got nothing to lose,” Peruzzi said. “We’re going to take it as a challenge, put our whole team up and have a great time. If we come with that same energy it should be fun.”
Peruzzi had 10 kills, eight digs and three match-altering blocks. She was one of several weapons the Hawks showcased and they needed all of them to hold off the Sharks (19-11), whom had hopes of winning the program’s first section championship since 2008.
“Nobody expected us to be here,” said St. Francis head coach Greg Ryan. “For this team, where we’ve been the past couple of seasons, this is a huge accomplishment. It hurts to lose to somebody that we know so well and that we’ve beaten before but credit to them. They were better than us tonight.”
Wednesday night was the third meeting between the two teams, whom finished tied for fourth in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League and split their league series. The Sharks edged the Hawks in their house in a five-set thriller during their most recent match on Oct. 12.
Mt. Madonna head coach Erin Mitchell said her team had kept that loss in the back of their minds.
“My whole team was aware that we lost to ourselves the last time,” Mitchell said. “That’s all we had to change. Don’t lose to yourself and the rest will come. They knew that and fully believed it. That was the energy they had from the start.”
Mt. Madonna ran away with the first set but St. Francis played much better in the second.
St. Francis held a 22-21 lead in set two but Mt. Madonna did just enough to win the set and take a commanding lead in the match.
Playing in their first CCS semifinal since 2009, the Sharks couldn’t catch a much-needed break down the stretch of the second or third set.
“It was pretty much what we were expecting,” Ryan said, “hard battle, close games, one roll off the net here, one close call there, it changes the outcome of the game. It didn’t go our way tonight.”
Sophomore outside hitter Paola Jacobs had 12 kills, seven digs and two aces for Mt. Madonna, which also received big performances from senior setter Indigo Kelly (25 assists, seven digs, two aces), senior middle Gracie Howley (four kills, two blocks) and sophomore libero AnMei Dasbach-Prisk (seven digs, two aces).
St. Francis countered with hard-hitting senior outside hitter Emma Ryan and also had junior middle blocker Tanya Gallo play arguably her best game of the season, controlling the action at the net and also knocking down kills when needed.
Senior setter Audrey Ryan — Greg’s daughter — also played a solid game, challenging Mt. Madonna’s taller hitters and setting up teammates nicely.
But Mt. Madonna proved too much to handle.
“Mara, Paola, everyone on their team, are really good hitters and really strong defensively,” Gallo said.
The Sharks will lose eight seniors to graduation: Hailey DiRienzo, Samantha Bellucci, Elena Gonzalez, Viktoria Tripp, Madison Orradre, Akemi Ito and Emma and Audrey.
“The seniors really impacted us and brought us all the way to the semifinals,” Gallo said. “Even though it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, it was still a great season. We accomplished more than anyone thought we could.”
The Hawks, meanwhile, still have some unfinished business.
“This year we’ve got extra fire in us,” Peruzzi said. “We’re super pumped. We’re ready for it.”
