F
oothill went undefeated in pool play, and won its first playoff match, before losing to Monte Vista in the semi-finals.
The Falcon’s easily defeated their first opponent, Alcalanes. Strong serving by Kara Strickland and Alaynah Fiedler, and strong hitting by Betsy Sedlak and Strickland gave Foothill a 25-18 win. The Falcons won the second game 25-10 with a combination of strong serving (Strickland and Maya Martinez), kills (Sedlak, Strickland, Kari Boughton and Morgan McKinnon), blocks (Sedlak and Boughton), and digs (Sedlak, Strickland McKinnon and Andrea Davis). Livermore was the Falcon’s next victim. Sedlak’s eight kills led the way on offense, and digs by Andrea, Cristen Carrell, Rodriguez Martinez, and Stephanie Seto held Livermore to 16 points in the first game. Foothill built up a 20-3 lead in the second game with ace serves by Sedlak, Whitnie, Martinez and Boughton and kills by Sedlak, Fiedler, Martinez, Cristen and Whitnie. Foothill’s final match in pool play was against San Ramon. Strickland’s ace serves, Fiedler’s block and San Ramon’s errors gave the Falcon’s a 9-2 lead. San Ramon scored four points to narrow the gap, but kills by Sedlak, an ace serve by Megan Woodruff and a kill by Martinez gave Foothill a five-point lead. The Wolves came back again and tied the game at 17. Strickland and Sedlak took over with aces (two for Strickland and one for Sedlak) and kills (one apiece) to win the first game 25-20.
Despite kills by Sedlak (five) and Strickland (one), two blocks apiece by Fiedler and Boughton, and digs by Strickland, Sedlak, Lauren Rodriguez and Martinez, the Wolves took advantage of Foothill’s nine errors and handed the Falcon’s their first loss of the day (25-16). But the third game was a different story. Sedlak crushed five of Boughton’s sets and killed two overpasses. Strickland served five straight points, including an ace. Foothill took the third game 15-10.
The Falcons faced James Logan for the second time that week in the first round of the playoffs. Once again, Strickland’s serving gave Foothill an early lead. Sedlak’s offense built the lead to 8-3. Great digs by Strickland (five), Fiedler, Boughton, Rodriguez and McKinnon helped Foothill maintain a seven-point lead. Kills by Strickland and a block by Martinez added to the lead. Martinez’s 10 service points and Sedlak’s offense gave Foothill a 25-8 win. Martinez started off the second game with eight straight service points. Eleven errors by James Logan, and strong serving by Cristen Carrel land Andrea Davis (six straight points) gave Foothill the win 25-16.
The Falcons met the Mustangs in the semi finals. Boughton had 13 assists in the first game on kills by Sedlak (six), Strickland (four), Martinez (two), and Fiedler (one). Strickland and McKinnon led the defense with four digs each. Digs by Sedlak and Whitnie Larson, and blocks by Fiedler and Boughton added to the defense. Foothill took the first game 25-20.
A kill, an ace and Foothill errors gave Monte Vista an early lead in the second game. But strong offense (Sedlak’s seven kills and Strickland’s three) kept the Falcon’s in the game. Great defense by Strickland and Rodriguez helped the Falcon’s get to within one point of Monte Vista at 21-20. Sedlak added two more kills (she had more kills than the entire Monte Vista team), but the Wolves won 25-22.
Monte Vista served three early aces in the third game and added a few kills to jump out to a 10-3 lead. Boughton’s ace serve and kills by Strickland and Sedlak got Foothill to within five points, but they couldn’t close the gap and Monte Vista won 15-10.
Stats:
Kills: Sedlak-65, Strickland-23, Martinez-7, Fiedler-5, Boughton-4, McKinnon-2, Carrell-1, Larson-1
Aces: Strickland-9, Sedlak-8, Fiedler-3, Boughton-3, Martinez-3, Larson -3, Megan-1
Blocks: Sedlak-5, Boughton-5, Fiedler-4, Martinez-3, Larson -1
Assists: Boughton-89, Carrell -5, Fiedler-4
Record :10-4
–Jeb Bing
