Volleyball: 7 teams in Napa and Sonoma counties remain alive in the playoffs

Ah, the perils of high school playoff volleyball.

Of the thirteen North Bay squads that played in the North Coast Section quarterfinals on Saturday night, seven emerged victorious to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals.

Cardinal Newman, Vintage, St. Helena, Credo and St. Vincent all cruised in their respective divisional matches, while Rancho Cotate defeated Cloverdale in a Division 4 upset. Also in Division 4, Sonoma Academy and Montgomery battled in a five-set thriller in what turned out to be the match of the night.

The full results are below:

Division 1

No. 7 Monte Vista 3, No. 2 Windsor 1

Division 2

No. 2 Cardinal Newman 3, No. 10 Freedom 0

The Cardinals (27-7) reached the semifinals with a sweep of Freedom, 25-14, 25-2, 25-13.

Offensively, Ciena Alvarez finished with 13 kills, while Julia Waller and Zoe Bardis each added nine. Waller also had 14 assists on the night and Kimmy Wilson had another great performance with 23 assists and five aces.

Newman will now host the No. 3 University (20-8) that overwhelmed College Park on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

No. 1 Head-Royce 3, No. 9 American Canyon 0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-16)

Division 3

No. 4 Bethel 3, No. 5 Roseland University Prep 0 (25-13, 26-24, 25-15)

Division 4

No. 1 Vintage 3, no. 8 Urban 0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-8)

No. 6 Rancho Cotate 3, No. 3 Cloverdale 0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-15)

The Cougars traveled north to upset the Eagles (19-9) in a sweep, 25-16, 25-17, 25-15, to reach the semifinals.

Jasmine Lopez led things offensively with 12 kills, while Isadora McKee and Avery Johnson added eight each. Josephina McKee recorded 15 assists and 12 digs and Johnson had 10 assists and eight digs. Izabella Harumi was a standout defensively with 15 digs.

Rancho (18-13) gets another home game, hosting No. 7 Encinal (17-15) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Jets upset No. 2 Arcata to reach the semifinals.

No. 5 Sonoma Academy 3, No. 4 Montgomery 2

In perhaps the best match of the night, it was the Coyotes (22-7) who prevailed, defeating Montgomery (12-12) in a five-set classic, 25-19,18-25, 25-16, 21 -25 and 16-14.

Margeaux Davis was all over the place for Sonoma Academy, earning 34 awards that night. Maja Mieritz was also a standout defensively, with six blocks. On offense, Sydney Shayewitz shined again with 18 kills and three aces. Bailey Anderson scored 14 kills and two aces, while Caitlin Koida had 21 assists and two aces.

The Coyotes will now make the trip to Napa and play top-seeded Vintage (14-16) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Crushers defeated No. 8 Urban in their quarterfinal match.

Division 5

No. 1 Saint Helena 3, No. 9 Alhambra 0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-15)

No. 2 Credo 3, no. 10 Kennedy 2 (25-23,16-25, 25-20,17-25, 15-5)

Division 6

No. 2 St. Vincent 3, No. 10 Ferndale 0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-19)

No. 4 Mendocino 3, No. 5 Grace Christian Academy 1 (25-20, 25-15, 23-25, 26-24)

You can reach staff writer Kienan O’Doherty at 415-887-8650 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @kodoherty22.