Tuesday night saw Sierra Women's Volleyball host Monterey Peninsula in round 1 of the 2021 CCCAA Women's Volleyball Playoffs. The Wolverines looking to not only extend their win streak – but also their season.
The Wolverines (North #4) took the lead in the first set, but MPC (North #13) answered back in set two to tie the match. Sets 3 and 4 were also fierce battles, but Sierra held the lead in both and squeezed out the 3-1 victory and advance to next weeks NorCal final.
On the Sierra side, Hannah Platt led in Kills with 18, and a percentage of .273, highest for the Wolverines and second highest in the match. Veronika Tupy had 11 kills of her own and Bekah McGill added 8 to Sierra's total of 51. Hailee Mulic racked up 30 digs, with Zelbee Rader and Bekah McGill at 16 each.
"It has been two years since we have felt the kinds of things you feel in playoffs" says Sierra head coach Alanna Whitnack. "We settled down and started to ball handle better and find our rhythm in games 3 and 4".
For Monterey Peninsula, Kylee Moore led the team in kills with 18, followed by Kathryn Chen with 13. The team digs were spread across multiple MPC players, with Kylee Moore leading with 26, followed by Luca Berg with 21.
Despite a fierce fight by MPC, Sierra was able to hold off the Lobos and secure their spot in the 2021 NorCal finals. "Hats off to MPC. They were a gritty defensive team and had two very smart and productive outside hitters" said Whitnack.
With the American River win over Solano – also played Tuesday night – it will be a battle of hometown rivals and Big 8 1st and 2nd place teams to decide who heads to Fresno for a chance at the 2021 state championship.