Sports briefs: 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 home 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.
- 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. Milan Hendrickson had 10 kills on a .375 hitting percentage and added 10 digs and four aces. Hanna Smith had 10 kills, hit .571 and added five blocks. Ella Moran added 10 digs. 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 on Wednesday, 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.
Girls tennis
San Domenico’s Carly Amborn rolled through the Bay Area Conference West tournament without dropping a set following a 6-1, 6-1 win in the final against Lick-Wilmerding’s Kira Iltchev on Thursday. Amborn, who is still undefeated on the season, was the tournament’s top seed and Iltchev was the No. 2 seed.
Boys water polo
Cameron Hellar and Soren Jessen scored four goals each and Terra Linda netminder Joey Carvalho was a wall against the Northgate assault as the Trojans rolled to a 12-6 victory in the first round of the North Coast Section Division I boys water polo tournament on Thursday at Marin Academy. The victory sets up a potential quarterfinal matchup between the No, 8 Trojans and top-seeded Redwood, which was in action against Alameda on Thursday.
For a full story on this game and other late Thursday results, see marinij.com and Saturday’s print edition.
- In other first-round action, No. 3 Tam advanced past No. 14 California with a 14-6 victory in Larkspur. The Red-tailed Hawks will next face the winner of Thursday’s matchup between No. 6 Liberty and No. 11 Castro Valley.
- Michael Yoder gave the host Wildcats an early boost with three goals in the first quarter and No. 3 Marin Academy went on to defeat No. 14 Vintage, 14-4, in Wednesday’s NCS D-II opening round. Marin Academy (14-9) will face No. 6 Heritage (15-6) in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Matthieu Giauque led Marin Academy with four goals, while Jack Buchanan and Justin Tachiki each scored three goals. Lachlan Baldauf had 12 blocks in the wildcats net, and Rali Greene bolstered the defense with five blocks.
- Novato scored twice in overtime for a 17-15 victory over No. 8 Clayton Valley Charter in Concord during Wednesday’s NCS D-II opening round. The No. 9 Hornets (10-16) have a tough test ahead, with top-seeded Cardinal Newman in Saturday’s quarterfinals. The Cardinals beat No. 16 St. Pat’s of Vallejo, 19-6, at San Domenico.
Girls water polo
Ninth-seeded Redwood held tough for a 9-3 victory over No. 8 Castro Valley in Thursday’s NCS D-I first-round action at host San Ramon Valley. The Giants earn a quarterfinal showdown with the winner of Thursday’s contest between top-seeded San Ramon Valley and No. 16 Liberty.
- Second-seeded Marin Catholic cruised past No. 15 American Canyon, 18-7, in Wednesday’s NCS D-II opening round at San Domenico. Senior Emma Slaught scored a game-high 11 goals for Marin Catholic, and senior Anya Jaroszewski netted four goals. Additional scoring came form Amelia Kiriakis, Kate Wentzell, and Lucia Lind. The Wildcats (14-9) won a regular-season meeting with the Wolves, 13-4, on Oct. 5. Marin Catholic advances to Saturday’s quarterfinals, when they will face the winner of Wednesday’s battle between No. 7 Granada and No. 10 Heritage.
- No. 9 San Marin held off No. 8 Clayton Valley Charter, 9-7, in Concord during Wednesday’s NCS D-II opening round action. The Mustangs (15-8) earned a quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded James Logan on Saturday.