Campolindo's volleyball team celebrates its NCS Division I semifinal win over San Ramon Valley on Nov. 7, 2024 (Nathan Canilao/Bay Area News Group).
Girls volleyball
Campolindo 3, San Ramon Valley 2
The Cougars made every big play down the stretch to defeat top-seeded San Ramon Valley on the road 25-16, 13-25, 25-18, 23-25, 15-12 to advance to the North Coast Section Division I final where it will travel to Tamalpais High on Saturday.
Aveya Stone led the way for Campolindo with 36 kills and was clutch for the Cougars in the final set.
“We can’t describe how amazing she’s matured from week to week in terms of her decision making,” said Campolindo coach John Vuong. “I think knowing that she’s helping everybody and she’s being a leader, that’s helping her game and her skill set.”
Campolindo came out strong in the final set of the match, taking an early 7-2 lead. SRV crawled its way back to make it a two-point game, but the Cougars held on to win led by Stone’s heroic efforts.
“We just had to reinforce the gameplan and continue to tell them to be aggressive,” Vuong said of the late-game adjustments. “It’s been really fun watching the team compete week-by-week, match-by-match because they’re growing in terms of learning different ways of competing.”
Amelia Knutson had a game-high 58 assists to go along with seven digs. Sophomore Talia Rosenblat totaled four blocks for Campolindo.
Campolindo will be seeking its first NCS title since 2016.
Marin Catholic 3, James Logan 2
Logan almost completed a miraculous comeback but fell just short, losing to North Bay power Marin Catholic in the NCS Open Division playoffs 23-25, 27-29, 25-17, 25-22, 8-15.
McKenzie Anderson had 29 kills, 31 digs and two blocks. Emma Tran totaled 27 digs, five assists and two aces. Leann Jung had 59 assists while Chelsea Branley recorded 30 kills.
Logan will host Foothill in the third place game on Saturday.
St. Francis 3, Palo Alto 1
St. Francis advanced to the Central Coast Section Division I final, beating Palo Alto 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 25-16 at home. The Lancers will play St. Ignatius, which upset top-seeded Mitty on Wednesday.
Sophomore Maura Hambly led Palo Alto with 12 kills, 19 digs and four blocks in the loss. Palo Alto will play in the NorCal playoffs starting on Tuesday.
Rancho Cotate 3, Encinal 0
Encinal put up a good fight, but fell short to Rancho Cotate in the NCS Division IV semifinals 25-23, 25-17, 26-24.
Taylor Roloff was a standout for the Jets as she had 27 kills, two assists and two blocks.
Girls flag football
Northgate 34, University-San Francisco 12
Senior night couldn’t have gone any better for Northgate as the Broncos routed University at home.
Quarterback Anjali Huber rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown. She also threw a score to Sadie Hansell, who hauled in eight receptions for 115 yards.
Wide receivers Sara LaVay and Hannah Hosler each caught a touchdown.
Pittsburg 20, Antioch 6
In a precursor to the Big Little game on Friday, Pittsburg’s flag football team defeated Antioch comfortably on the road to close out the regular season.
Alani Lopez completed nine passes for 104 yards and three touchdowns. Jurnee Cox, Jenna Miller and Nyla Tims each recorded a receiving score.
Jaycelyn Luna was key for Pittsburg, totaling 63 yards rushing and racking up four tackles and a sack. Cox and Elena Bojorquez each had an interception.
Girls water polo
Heritage 12, Granada 6
The Patriots advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCS Division II playoffs behind five goals and five steals from junior Fiyin Obadofin.
Sophomore Paige Weideman added four goals and goalie was stout Aaralynn McDonald Shargots as she had eight blocks and no goals scored.
Heritage travels to Marin Catholic on Saturday in its next match.
Boys water polo
Piedmont 17, Freedom 9
Elles Krieckhaus scored seven goals to lead Piedmont past Freedom to advance to the NCS Division II semifinals.
Piedmont’s Leo Hurwitz had three goals and Yotam Kariv scored twice. Freedom’s Adam Boccia scored a team-high four goals in the loss.
Piedmont will host No. 5 Washington-Fremont on Saturday.
Other local scores
Head-Royce (Division II), Bethel (Division III), St. Joseph Notre Dame (Division III) and Pinole Valley (Division V) will all play in NCS championship games slated for Saturday. … St. Ignatius upset top-seeded Archbishop Mitty in comeback fashion in the CCS Open Division semifinals 14-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-23, 16-14. The Wildcats are scheduled to play St. Francis in the CCS Open title game. … In girls water polo, Alhambra, Moreau Catholic, Heritage, Livermore and James Logan advanced to the NCS Division II quarterfinals. Foothill, Heritage, Piedmont and Washington-Fremont advanced through the NCS Division II bracket. … Liberty’s flag football finished the regular season 20-1 after defeating Heritage 35-6 on Wednesday. The Lions won the Bay Valley Athletic League title for the second year in a row.
Originally published at Nathan Canilao