Girls volleyball roundup: Tam tops Monte Vista, is set to host Division I final
Natalia Clifford and Natalie Stanford combined for 22 kills on Wednesday night as the Tam High girls volleyball team took another big step on its quest to win back-to-back North Coast Section championships.
Tam, which won the Division III title last season, is seeded third in D-I this year and secured a 25-21, 25-21, 25-16 hoe win against No. 7 Monte Vista (15-12) in the semifinals in Mill Valley.
Tam (25-10) is set to host the final at 7 p.m. on Saturday after No. 4 Campolindo (27-8) took down top-seeded San Ramon Valley in five sets in the other semifinal. As an added bonus, the victory secured Tam a spot in next week’s NorCal playoffs.
Clifford had 12 kills, six digs, three blocks, and three aces for the Red-tailed Hawks. Stanford added 10 kills, four digs, three blocks, and four aces.
Tam also got 26 assists, four kills, and two blocks from setter Emmeline Sandgren. Reese Murphy had six kills and three blocks and Avery Blount added four kills and two blocks. Jade Curtin-Savala had 10 digs and Annie Payne added six digs.
Around the county
- Redwood wrapped up fifth place in the Open Division with a 25-13, 25-21, 25-10 victory against No. 6 Carondelet (25-9) on Wednesday. The No. 5 Giants (24-5) and Carondelet had both already secured automatic spots in next week’s NorCal playoffs for being in the Open Division.
- Olivia Dugan and Elsa Kehoe had 21 and 20 kills, respectively, as No. 8 seed San Rafael battled No. 4 Bethel (23-6) in the D-III semifinals, falling in five sets — 25-17, 25-22, 20-25, 12-25, 10-15. Freshman Aisling Kehoe stepped in at libero and had 27 digs for the Bulldogs (18-16), who can still secure a NorCal berth with a road win against No. 2 St. Patrick-St. Vincent (25-9) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
- Marin Academy went on the road against top-seeded Head-Royce (29-4), falling 25-10, 28-26, 25-16 in the D-II semifinals on Wednesday. MA (21-11) can still make its way into the NorCal playoffs if it wins the third-place game against No. 2 Cardinal Newman (27-8) at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Santa Rosa.