The Foothill Falcons continued an amazing undefeated streak, downing San Benito of Hollister in five games (21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-23, 15-12) to win the Northern California Division I girlís volleyball championship Tuesday night.
Some people believe that the mark of a great champion is how the champ reacts to adversity, how a team reacts when they get knocked down. Throughout the post season, Foothill had overpowered opponents. No match lasted beyond three games and the Falcons had outscored post-season opponents by a combined 134 points entering the match with San Benito. As the scores of each game indicate, this match was not like any other Foothill had played all season. This match was more like a heavyweight championship fight. Two powerful and athletic teams going all out all the time, fighting for every point as if their season was on the line, and it was.
Foothill not only had their noses blooded during the first round of the battle, a 25-21 first game loss, the team had to rise off the canvas when they lost game 3 (25-17) to fall behind 2 games to 1 in the match, a loss that created the first must win game of their season.
The turning point in Game 4 came when Haybaylers outside hitter Bri Romero went down with a knee injury with San Benito leading 9-7. Romero, who had been digging balls and setting up her teammates all through the match, had combined with Emily Korsten to match Foothillís dominating front line. Romeroís injury, which was followed by a lengthy injury timeout, appeared to leave a hole in the San Benito game. Foothill went on to take Game 4 25-23.
EBAL MVP Felcia Willoughby and Betsy Sedlak, who have overpowered opponents throughout the year, continued their dominant play in game 5. The two led the team back from a 9-7 deficit to a 15-12 victory and the match. Setter Christy Payne, Tracy Pham, Kara Strickland, and Alaynah Fieldler have again provided Foothill with an outstanding defensive effort.
Foothill will face defending state champion Los Alamitos, the Southern California Division I champions 5 p.m. Dec. 2 at the San Jose State Events Center.
Foothill Advances to NCS 4A Championship
After trailing visiting Pittsburg by 18 points midway through the second quarter, it was as if the Foothill Falcon defense decided ìNo more!î The defense, which allowed 21 points and over 200 yards of offense in the first half, shut the Pirates out while allowing less than 90 yards in the second half. While the defense held the Pirates in check, the offense scored 28-straight points to earn the Falcons their place in the NCS 4A Championship Game.The comeback started late in the first half, fittingly with a defensive stop. With a 21-3 lead, the Pittsburg coaching staff chose to forego a field goal, or even a coffin corner punt, by going for a first down on fourth and four at the Falcon 30-yard line. Smelling a chance to get back in the game, the defense turned the momentum in the Falcons favor with a quarterback sack by weak side defensive end Sean Hurley. From there the offense took over and marched down the field for a touchdown on a 21-yard halfback option touchdown pass from Austin Day to Jordan Johnson.
The Falcons dominated the line of scrimmage on both offense and defense. In the third quarter, after recovering a Pittsburg fumble, the offense capped a 12-plays drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Rob Andrews. Day later added a 29-yard TD run before Andrews capped the scoring with a 9-yard score to make the score 31-21.
The semi final win brought a measure of revenge for the Falcon coaching staff. In 2003 the Falcons and the Pirates met in an NCS playoff game that ended in a lopsided 55-7 victory for Pittsburg. The Falcons will take on national power De La Salle of Concord at 7:15 p.m. on Dec. 9 at the McAfee Coliseum. De La Salle outscored San Ramon Valley 41-25 to earn their way to the final game. De La Salle has returned to national prominence and is currently 11th in the MaxPreps.com national high school football rankings.
AVHS Soccer off and Running
After a lackluster game last Monday night against the Antioch Panthers (1-0 loss), the Amador Dons made sure they would not be caught napping against the Hayward Farmers in a 5-0 non-league win. The Dons used two first half goals from Nestor Negrete and a second half hat trick from Evan Sherwood to ensure the victory.
The Dons first goal came at 7:11 of the first half, after some pinpoint passing between Evan Sherwood and Michael Janjigian. Janjigian took two touches and sent a ball into the Hayward box. The ball found Negrete who one-timed the ball into the Hayward net for a 1-0 lead. The Dons scored their second goal at 16:01 as Matt Carlucci found Negrete jetting down the left side free from any defenders. The Hayward Keeper came out to challenge and Negrete calmly slid the ball past him and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
In the second half, the Dons, led by Sherwoodís three goals, put on an offensive show. During the 59th minute, Michael Florin took the ball to the end line and sent a beautiful cross into the Hayward box. The Farmer keeper came out and tipped the ball away, however Sherwood was in the right place at the right time and headed the ball into the open net for a 3-0 lead. In the 75th minute, Sherwood cleaned up a rebound off a shot off the post by Eddie Markie that allowed Sherwood to calmly plant the ball into the goal. Sherwoodís third goal was his most impressive. Taking a free kick from 22-yards out, he placed a rocket into the upper right corner of the net.
The Dons received outstanding performances from Michael Florian, Jeff Squier, and Justin Mullaney.
