NorCal boys volleyball: Monta Vista, Bellarmine, Mitty, Valley Christian, Leigh advance to region championhips

HAYWARD – Senior libero Rahul Pothineni knew his Monta Vista teammates weren’t going to succeed if they tried to win a jumping contest with host Moreau Catholic, which were taller at most positions and just as athletic. 

But the team captain was also certain that if his Matadors used their superior agility to dig out spikes and utilized misdirection passes, that the Cupertino school could prevail in the NorCal Division III semifinal. 

And succeed they did, defeating Moreau Catholic 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22 to advance to the regional title game and a matchup with Leigh on Saturday. 

If the Matadors win, they will tie Campolindo for the most NorCal titles won by a school with three. 

“We have a legacy of being one of the best teams in NorCal,” Pothineni said. “This is what Monta Vista does. We pass well and we play defense. That’s what this program is built on.”

Cupertino claimed the first set thanks to stellar passing from setter Praneel Shah, who set up Henry Hu, Elijah Kang and Pratham Kannan for kills. 

Kang unofficially had 22 kills and Kannan had 13 kills. Moreau jumped out to a 17-10 lead in the second set, but Monta Vista’s determined players didn’t relent. The Matadors, behind a slew of Kannan spikes, stormed back to take a 2-0 lead. 

“It’s all about proving your presence on the court and showing why you belong there,” Kannan said. 

The visitors seemed to be well on their way to a sweep when Cupertino jumped out to a 21-14 lead in the third set. 

With their season on the line, Moreau’s players responded. Marcelo Molina-Aced and Ricky Li used their long arms and impressive jumping ability to get two blocks and a number of emphatic kills. 

The Mariners, who were 12-0 at home before Thursday night, went on an 11-2 run to move onto a fourth set. 

“At one point, we didn’t even have a senior on the floor,” Moreau coach Jerico Abanico said. “Our program is still young, and I’m really looking forward to what the future has in store for us.”

The fourth set seemed destined to follow a similar script, with Monte Vista racing out to a 17-10 lead, only to watch Molina-Aced, freshman libero Lucas Dong and company scratch back into the set, eventually cutting the deficit to 21-20. 

“I never thought I’d say this, but bro, I want to practice on Friday,” Moreau’s senior leader Avery Pace told his teammates in the huddle during a break. 

Moreau couldn’t complete the comeback though, with Monta Vista’s savvy front line, willing passers and skilled reserves such as Joaquin Garcia closing out the final set. 

The Matadors improved to 21-13, and the Mariners ended their season 25-9.

Monta Vista will play in its third NorCal title game under Chiu, and the first since the Matadors won its second consecutive Division I title in 2019. Some of the players from that team are now assistant coaches on the bench and know how to prepare the current players for the title game. 

“That spurs them on, and gives them a standard they should want to achieve and aspire to,” Chiu said as his assistants celebrated with the players. 

Archbishop Mitty 3, Santa Cruz 1

The fourth time was the charm for Archbishop Mitty, who finally beat Santa Cruz for the first time in the four matches between the programs this season and advanced to the NorCal Division I title game on Saturday.

The Monarchs beat the host Cardinals 25-22, 35-33, 24-26, 25-18 to set up an all-West Catholic Athletic League final at Valley Christian.

 William Dryden led the San Jose school with 17 kills, and teammate Zach Flynn had 15 kills. 

 “Our grittiness came out,” Mitty coach Lacey Gera told Gordon Kass. “I feel we are in a groove and we dug more balls and were more aggressive than last time (a Central Coast Section semifinal loss to Santa Cruz seven days ago). We had the mentality to battle. We put more tempo at serving and we were ready to serve receive.”

 Mitty improved to 30-9, and Santa Cruz finished the year 39-3. The Monarchs went 2-1 against Valley Christian this season. 

 Leigh 3, Del Oro 1

The Longhorns punched their ticket to the program’s second NorCal final when the program defeated Del Oro 25-20 ,21-25 ,25-20, 25-20. The San Jose public school lone appearance came in 2016, and now the Longhorns will face Monta Vista.

Leigh’s Xace Leem was huge in both the serve receive and attacking game, liberto Sean Huynh did his thing as a passer and defender, and Cooper Smith was a dominant force on the right side. 

Leigh coach Jeff Argabright told the Bay Area News Group that Smith’s serving game helped erase a large deficit during a huge run in the fourth set. 

“We played well but Del Oro’s balanced attack and defense made it very difficult to score,” Leigh’s coach said. “We decided after game 2 to increase the serving pressure and green light our jump servers.” 

Leigh improved to 28-7, and Del Oro finished the season 18-18.

Valley Christian 3, Sanger 1

Valley Christian rallied from an early deficit to take down host Sanger 160 miles from San Jose. The Warriors beat the public school located just outside of Fresno 19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-19 to secure their spot in the Division I title game against Mitty. 

Sophomore Elan Taylor and senior Keaton Hendry each had big plays in the decisive fourth set for Valley Christian. 

Greg Li, Tyler Alden and Harry Shi also played a huge role in the win, as did Andy Xu and Andrew Salisbury. Valley Christian has now won 10 games in a row, and took 2 of 3 matchups with Mitty this season. 

Valley Christian enters the title game 32-10, and Sanger finishes with a record of 38-9. 

Bellarmine 3, Lincoln-San Francisco 1

Bellarmine took down visiting Lincoln-San Francisco 25-23, 25-12, 23-25, 25-23 to advance to the NorCal Division IV title game against Vanden. 

Freshman libero Nate Berliner had 18 digs and three aces, while teammate JJ Barton had 23 kills and 12 digs as Bellarmine’s outside hitter. 

Junior setter Jake Berenguer had zero errors on 22 serves, and dished out 37 assists while racking up 16 digs for the San Jose private school. 

“What’s remarkable is that everyone got to play in this match, which is a rare feat at this point in the season,” Bellarmine coach B.J Prudencio told BANG in an email. “It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. Tonight, all the pieces finally came together, and I’m thrilled with the effort we put forth.”

Bellarmine improved to 19-18 and Lincoln ended the season 22-12.