Roseland University Prep, Windsor wins volleyball playoffs

Welcome to the new North Coast Section.

The first round of prep volleyball matches in the new state playoff format featured a scene that could quickly become common: schools with large student enrollments facing off against schools with fewer students.

Perhaps no game was as perfect as Roseland University Prep’s Division 3 opener, which pitted a school of nearly 500 students against Liberty of Brentwood, a school of about 2,800 students.

However, the Knights (23-5), who moved up two leagues during the NCS seeding meet, overcame a first-set loss to the visiting Lions (12-16) to win the next three and win the match in four: 21- 25, 25- 21, 25-19 and 25-12.

The key factor in this case was the beginning of each RUP set, with players jumping out of the gate. They took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, 10-3 in the second, 7-1 in the third, and 6-0 in the fourth. The crazy thing is that they could have started so much better.

“We started a little slow tonight,” Roseland University head prep coach Ana Hernandez said. “A lot of balls went into the net. Our defense was good, but our attack and blocking weren’t working. We just got off to a bad start. But they didn’t give up and kept fighting.”

As the game went on, RUP improved its performance. Those big leads they lost in the first and second sets were easily closed in the third and fourth sets, and the Knights figured it out.

RUP will now travel to Vallejo on Saturday to face No. 4 Bethel (21-6) in the second round. The Jaguars, who also lost the first set on Tuesday night, defeated No. 13 Clayton Valley Charter 3-1.

Division 1

No. 2 Windsor 3, No. 15 Acalanes 1

The Jaguars opened the postseason with a four-set victory over Acalanes: 25-20, 25-15, 24-26 and 25-14.

Haven Trechter recorded another double-double with 18 kills and 16 digs. Her 18 kills puts her over 1,000 in her high school career and is the second player to do so in Windsor history after Taylor Boyce accomplished the feat last year.

Along with Trechter, other outside hitters fired for the Jaguars as Aubrey Bush had 17 kills and Kaelyn Malsbary contributed 16 kills.

Brielle Galli continued to dish out 46 assists in the game, while Ava Rush (26) and Teneli Galli (13) led the strong defensive effort.

Windsor (31-5) will now stay at home and host No. 7 Monte Vista (14-11) in Saturday’s second round. The Mustangs missed No. 10 Northgate in their first game.

No. 5 Amador Valley 3, No. 12 Petaluma 0

The Trojans’ best season in living memory came to an end on Tuesday night when they lost to a tough Amador Valley team in three sets: 11-25, 15-25 and 22-25.

Petaluma had to deal with 6-foot-3 Cal Poly player Charlotte Kelly, who is a tall order for any team. Nevertheless, the Trojans did what they do best and fought back as Occidental College-bound forward Sloane Shoop had 16 kills.

The Trojans’ season ends as one of the best in school history as they won the Vine Valley Athletic League co-championship and the VVAL tournament championship, along with an 11-1 league record and a 24-6 overall mark.

No. 6 Mission San Jose 3, No. 11 Ukiah 1

Ukiah’s winning season came to an end on Tuesday in the first round, losing to Mission San Jose in four sets: 23-25, 22-25, 25-18 and 21-25.

The Wildcats finish the year with an overall record of 23-11 and an 8-2 mark in the North Bay League Oak Division, good for second place in the league.

Girls’ tennis

Justin-Siena 6, Vintage 1

In the final matchup of the VVAL’s two best teams in the regular season, the Braves won the championship, sweeping doubles en route to victory.

Singles: No. 1 Natalie Vale (V) d. Bryn Hogan (JS) 7:5, 6:2; No. 2 Lyla Hogan (JS) d. Jasmine Hoskins (V) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5); No. 3 Naveena Jackson (JS) d. Martinez-Ceballos (V) 6:3, 6:4; No. 4 Michaela Pucci (JS) d. Kaia Sidhu (V) 6:0, 6:3.

Doubles: No. 1 Olivia Mazzucco/Giulia Baldini (JS) d. Ilaria Monticello/Angel Martinez-Ceballos (V) 6:1, 7:6 (7:4); No. 2 June Kelly/Anna Tompkins (JS) d. Valerie Chicatti/Giselle Melgoza (V) 6:0, 6:4; No. 3 Justin’s Annette Glynn/Lydia Heil (JS) d. Maeve Reinsimar and Izzie Malan (V) 6:1, 6:1.

Editor-in-Chief Kienan O’Doherty can be reached at 415-887-8650 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @kodoherty22.