WATSONVILLE — At last.
After two consecutive seasons of being bounced in the first round and five more without even making it to the dance, St. Francis High finally exorcised its Central Coast Section demons on Saturday night.
The No. 3-seeded Sharks swept the scrappy No. 6-seeded Summit Shasta Black Bears 26-24, 25-18, 25-18 to advance to the CCS Division V semifinals and notch their first postseason victory since the 2009 season.
“We talked at the beginning of the season and we laid out our goals,” said St. Francis head coach Greg Ryan. “We wanted to beat our out-of-league opponents. We did that. Increase our league win total. We did that. Of course the big one was this. Win a first round CCS game. We did that. Credit to Shasta they were, except for Aptos, the best defensive team we’ve played all year. It was a great game.”
And a tighter one than first expected.
The Sharks (19-10) knew very little about the Black Bears heading into the match and with good reason. Shasta (18-6), of Daly City, was established just four years ago and was competing in the CCS playoffs for the first time.
Limited on size but not bite, the Black Bears gave the Sharks all they could handle in the first and second set before St. Francis adjusted its attack in the third and notched the sweep.
St. Francis senior setter Audrey Ryan, Greg Ryan’s daughter, scoured the internet to find any info on Shasta in the week leading up to the quarterfinal match. She found a handful of video clips and a few stats indicating who the Black Bears’ top hitters were.
The highlights and stats did not do the real thing justice.
“They surprised me a little bit,” Audrey said. “They were really scrappy, which I wasn’t expecting. Not a lot hit the floor. It took a really hard hit for them to get out of system.”
Added coach Ryan: “It was good to have a test after a week off. We’re not done. We’re looking forward to Wednesday night.”
St. Francis will play fellow Santa Cruz County school Mt. Madonna, the No. 2 seed, for a spot in the CCS D-V final. The game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start at Watsonville High.
St. Francis and Mt. Madonna finished in a tie for fourth in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League and split their season series. The Sharks won the most recent meeting in five sets.
“I’m ready,” said St. Francis senior outside hitter Emma Ryan. “I have friends on that team and I’m ready to play them again. They’re great competitors.”
Ryan — not related to Greg and Audrey — had a team-high 16 kills and fellow senior outside hitter Sam Bellucci added 15.
The hard-hitting duo combined for 14 kills in the first set and the Sharks needed all of them. St. Francis jumped out to an 8-3 lead but Shasta roared back to take the lead and held a 20-16 advantage before coach Ryan called a timeout.
The Sharks finished the set on a 10-4 run behind crucial kills from Ryan and Bellucci for the final three points.
The second set was also close until St. Francis stepped up its defense against Shasta’s top offensive weapons during a 6-0 run.
By the time the final set started, the Sharks were well in control and on their way to the historic victory.
“We’ve been working toward this for three years now and every year we’ve made it we’ve gotten closer and closer,” said Audrey, who finished with 39 assists and four aces. “To finally win a game in CCS, it feels really rewarding.”
In other CCS volleyball action:
• Aptos 3, Sobrato 0 — No. 2 Aptos High swept No. 7 Sobrato High 25-11, 25-11, 25-10 on Saturday night in the CCS D-III playoffs at home.
Lauren Picone hit a .538 with seven kills and Braelynn Westjohn was perfect on her nine kills for Aptos (13-7), which advances to the D-III semifinal for the third straight season. The Mariners will host No. 3 Hillsdale High on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Peyton Dueck finished with five aces, seven assists and 13 digs, while Dani Hewitt added four aces, 13 assists and eight digs.
• Mt. Madonna 3, York 0 — Mara Peruzzi had five kills and 10 digs, Paola Jacobs added 10 kills and seven digs and No. 2 Mt. Madonna swept No. 10 York in the CCS D-V quarterfinals on Saturday.
Gracie Howley chimed in with seven kills, six digs and a block for Mt. Madonna (15-10), which plays No. 3 St. Francis on Wednesday at Watsonville High at 5:30 p.m.
Indigo Kelly recorded 24 assists and seven digs.
• King City 3, M.V.C. 1 — There will be a new CCS D-IV champion after No. 5 Monte Vista Christian’s 25-22, 20-25, 25-17, 25-17 loss to No. 4 King City High on Saturday night in King City.
Allie Tillery had 16 kills and two blocks, Cassidy Schurman finished with 12 kills and Mattea Romo added 10 kills, 15 assists and 10 digs for M.V.C. (15-15), which last year won its first section title since 1997.
The Mustangs will graduate three seniors, Kate Watts, Abbey Lynch and Romo.
