Elena Fisher (6) of Branson celebrates a point with Lucy Tusher (5), Celia Tolmie (14), and Ellie Corsello (16) during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Marin Catholic at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Abby King (3) of Branson is congratulated after her kill during the first set by Lucy Tusher (5), Elsa Merriman (10), and Ellie Corsello (16) during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Marin Catholic at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Lauren Dignan (7) of Branson digs a shot during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Marin Catholic at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Elena Fisher (6) of Branson attempts a shot over the defense of Rania Brody (11) of Marin Catholic during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Rania Brody (11) of Marin Catholic sets a ball during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Branson at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Krystal Rose Huff (8) of Marin Catholic attempts a shot over the block of Elena Fisher (6) of Branson during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Grace Basso (17) of Marin Catholic attempts a shot over the block of Celia Tolmie (14) of Branson during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Celia Tolmie (14) of Branson sets during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School against Marin Catholic in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Rania Brody (11) of Marin Catholic sets a player while Krystal Rose Huff (8) of Marin Catholic looks on during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Elena Fisher (6) of Branson attempts to block the shot of Krystal Rose Huff (8) of Marin Catholic during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Grace Basso (17) of Marin Catholic attempts a shot over the block of Celia Tolmie (14) of Branson during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Elena Fisher (6) of Branson bumps a ball during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Marin Catholic at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Branson's girls volleyball team celebrates holding the championship banner after defeating Marin Catholic after the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Elena Fisher (6) of Branson tips the ball over the block of Sydney Ryssemus (3) and Krystal Rose Huff (8) of Marin Catholic during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Elena Fisher (6) of Branson attempts a shot against the block of Krystal Rose Huff (8) and Colbie Baker (2) of Marin Catholic during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Branson's girls volleyball team celebrates holding the championship banner after defeating Marin Catholic after the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Blake Cussen (4) of Branson hits the ball over the net over the defense of Grace Basso (17) and Colbie Baker (2) of Marin Catholic during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Blake Cussen (4) of Branson attempts a shot against Marin Catholic during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Grace Basso (17) of Marin Catholic attempts a shot over the defense of Celia Tolmie (14) and Ellie Corsello (16) Branson during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Branson fans cheer during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Marin Catholic at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Carolina Delaney (15) of Marin Catholic is congratulated by her teammates after an ace serve during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Branson at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Branson's girls volleyball team holds the championship banner after defeating Marin Catholic after the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Carolina Delaney (15) of Marin Catholic attempts a shot over the block of Blake Cussen (4) and Ellie Corsello (16) of Branson during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Marin Catholic head coach Nick Honrada talks with his team during a timeout during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Branson at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Elena Fisher (6) of Branson attempts a shot over the defense of Rania Brody (11) of Marin Catholic during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Branson celebrates scoring a point against Marin Catholic during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Branson girls volleyball head coach Michelle Brazil talks with her team in a time out during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Marin Catholic at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Branson's girls volleyball team stands for the pledge of allegiance before their MCAL girls volleyball final against Marin Catholic at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Krystal Rose Huff (8) of Marin Catholic attempts a shot over the block of Celia Tolmie (14) of Branson during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Boston Norris (13) of Marin Catholic is congratulated by her teammates after a kill during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Branson at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Sierra Ellison (16) and Grace Basso (17) of Marin Catholic dig for a ball during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Branson at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Branson and Marin Catholic face off during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Celia Tolmie (14) of Branson sets a shot against Marin Catholic during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Krystal Rose Huff (8) of Marin Catholic attempts a shot over the block of Elena Fisher (6) of Branson during the MCAL girls volleyball final at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
Grace Basso (17), Sydney Ryssemus (3), and Sierra Ellison (16) of Marin Catholic celebrate scoring a point during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Branson at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
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Elena Fisher (6) of Branson celebrates a point with Lucy Tusher (5), Celia Tolmie (14), and Ellie Corsello (16) during the MCAL girls volleyball final against Marin Catholic at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Oct. 25, 2024. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)
One thing that’s been a hallmark of the Branson School girls volleyball team during coach Michelle Brazil’s tenure is that the Bulls almost never beat themselves.
Branson played a clean game on offense, defense, and on serves and challenged Marin Catholic to reach and stay at that level over the course of three sets.
While the Wildcats hung close for almost all of Friday’s MCAL championship game, Branson won the points when it mattered most en route to a 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 victory and their third consecutive league title.
“For us the best thing we did was when MC started playing and picking up their game, I thought we did the same and challenged them to continue to play,” said Brazil, who has won the league title seven times since taking over the program in 2009. “Our defense can be really, really hard to score on and I think that we get points because people make errors. We dig so many balls and we tire people out. That’s always something that I try to do with a team and I thought our team did a great job of managing that.”
Both teams are expected to move on to the Open Division of the new-look North Coast Section playoffs. It’s widely expected that the winner of Friday’s game would be the No. 1 seed while the loser still had a chance to claim the No. 2 seed.
The two programs have enjoyed immense success in the NCS in recent years. Branson has won 13 section titles since 2009 — including five in a row. Marin Catholic’s streak of eight consecutive section titles ended last year when the Wildcats fell to Foothill in the D-I championship. The seeding meeting is set for Sunday.
“Our goal was to win the league,” Brazil said. “To some extent, you can’t really control the seeding after this but you can control what you do here so that was what we wanted to do. We wanted to come out, we wanted to make a statement, we wanted to play well so we could set ourselves up to have the best potential seed possible moving into the Open Division.”
The key moment in Friday’s title tilt came late in the first set. Branson (20-4) had jumped out to an 8-2 lead but MC pulled to within a single point on three occasions.
Libero Lauren Dignan had a kill to put Branson ahead 20-18 then middle blocker Abby King came up with back-to-back blocks to put the Bulls in front 22-18.
“It was a total momentum shift for us and it was really good timing because the second one team gets up in the 20-to-25 range, it’s really hard to come back,” Branson outside hitter Elena Fisher said.
King added a tip kill for a 23-20 lead then a big swing two points later to give Branson the first set.
“Abby has really good instincts just generally speaking,” Brazil said. “She has a really good knack for reading the game and she’s really disciplined with her feet and her hands. So when our hitters and our servers are doing a really good job of making it hard for the other team to score because the dig or the pass isn’t as great, it just puts Abby in a situation to just dominate and she did.”
MC (24-6) hung around for a while in the second set despite Fisher piling up three quick kills. Fisher got into a groove again midway through the set with three kills in five points, followed by an ace for a 17-10 Branson lead. Fisher added three more kills late in the set as the Bulls went in front 2-0.
“I was just kind of going for it,” Fisher said. “It was my last [MCAL] finals and a part of me was just like I don’t want to have any regrets and I didn’t want to feel unfilled at all. Other than that, Lauren was doing a really good job of telling me the open courts, especially on the tips. … That was really good because I was trying not to give them the same look every time.”
Fisher, the presumptive MCAL player of the year, rose to the occasion in the title game, adding nine digs to go with her game-high 20 kills.
“The thing about (Fisher) that’s really special is she can kind of score in any way,” Brazil said. “She can score by hitting the ball thunderously hard. She can use the block. She can tip the ball. She can kind of do anything so it’s hard to defend against a player that has so many tools in her tool box.”
MC caught Branson on a couple of occasions early in the second and third sets but never took the lead. Branson was able to limit MC to just one or two points at a time while occasionally going on short runs to gradually pull out in front.
The Wildcats were still within 18-14 late in the third but Branson reeled off five consecutive points on Blake Cussen’s serve to put the match out of reach.
Cussen had 12 kills for the Bulls while Ella Tsai and King added eight apiece. King also had five blocks. Dignan had a team-high 15 digs, Lucy Tusher added nine digs, and setter Celia Tolmie had 38 assists, 12 digs, and four blocks.
“It’s bittersweet almost because being a senior, I know it’s my last year to win MCALs,” Dignan said. “I’m super happy with our performance this whole season and I hope they can continue it in the future. I really love this team. It’s amazing, obviously, to win three in a row. Who doesn’t want to win?”
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