Sports briefs: Branson tops Marin Catholic at Stockton tourney
Branson played its first tournament of the season and faced a familiar foe in the championship game, downing Marin Catholic in two sets to win the Stockton tournament on Saturday.
Branson swept past Turlock, Pleasant Valley and Pleasant Grove en route to the gold bracket final.
Sadie Snipes led the way with 12 kills against MC while Elena Fisher added eight and Logan Tusher had six. Dylan Whisenant had 13 digs and Lauren Dignan had eight. Abby King had five blocks for the Bulls (6-0).
MC made the gold final after suffering a 3-0 setback against St. Francis on Friday night.
Tam also competed at the Stockton tournament, placing sixth after losing in the silver bracket final. The Red-tailed Hawks (5-2) went 2-2 on the day, losing to Pleasant Grove before beating Reno and Turlock. Tam lost a three-setter to Amador Valley in the silver final.
Natalia Clifford had 25 kills, 16 digs and four blocks in the tournament. Tam also got strong performances from Zoe Lyko (16 kills, four blocks, four aces), Natalie Stanford (18 kills), Grace Widdifield (15 kills, three blocks), Malia Parsons (19 digs, four aces), Ada Holmes-Hidalgo (nine digs, four aces), plus setter Emmeline Sandgren (81 assists, six kills, three aces).
- San Rafael went 1-1 in pool play, missing out on a place in one of the top two brackets by a single point but rebounded to go 3-0 in the bronze bracket to finish the day at the Cougar Challenge at Albany High on Saturday. The Bulldogs got strong games from Jane Stanley (12 assists, three blocks), Elsa Kehoe (13 kills, five digs), Olivia Dugan (11 digs), and Audrey Merk (13 digs, eight kills) in a 2-0 win against Petaluma. San Rafael lost to San Leandro before defeating Holy Names, Salesian and Tennyson in the bronze bracket.
- Novato also competed at the Cougar Classic, finishing second in its pool before losing to Albany in the crossover game to wind up in the silver bracket. Novato capped a 1-3 day with a loss to Petaluma in bracket play.
- Gabi Ginocchio dished out 18 assists and had five aces as San Marin extended its unbeaten start to the season with a 25-18, 24-26, 25-8, 25-12 win against Sonoma Valley on Friday night. Brianna Nottingham added 12 kills, eight assists and three aces for the Mustangs (3-0). Paige Brumley and Sylvia Tuerke had seven kills apiece.
Girls tennis
Freshman Kylie Lee picked up her first victory at No. 1 singles as Terra Linda fell against the Bay School 6-1 on Friday. Lee posted a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Allison Yuen.