2004 California Community Colleges
Commission on Athletics
Women's Volleyball Championships
Presented by the Stockton Sports Commission

(Double-elimination tournament)

Day 2, at San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA
Saturday, Dec. 4 Results

Game 5-South No. 4 Cypress (13-9) d. North No. 3 Butte (20-3),
30-19, 30-19, 30-22, at Blanchard Gym
Butte is eliminated and finishes tied for seventh in state tourney

Recap: Once again, the trip to the state tournament was a quick one for Coach Chuck Johnson's Butte Roadrunners. Butte only lost once in the regular season, but suffered its second straight losing sweep here as Cypress stayed alive in the eight-team battle for the 2004 title. Tordra Sessions continued her success from the regionals with 16 kills, while setter Kathy Hass chipped in 30 assists and 11 digs. Libero Nancy Luguna had a team-high 17 digs. Breezie James scored nine kills in just 17 attempts (.412). For Butte, Ashley Wilson had nine kills and Crystal Palmer scored seven kills and three blocks. Libero Cassidy Smith had 13 digs, 30 overall in two matches. Cypress has now ended the seasons for three top 10 state colleges in No. 6 Butte, No. 8 Orange Coast, and No. 1 El Camino. Cypress was ranked tied for No. 25 going into the playoffs in the CCCWVCA poll.

Game 6-North No. 2 Taft (22-2) d. North No. 4 Sacramento City (17-6),
30-19, 30-24, 31-29, at Marcopulos Gym
Sacramento is eliminated and finishes tied for seventh in the state tourney

Recap: The Cougars of Taft recovered from its first-round five-game loss to San Diego Mesa by sweeping fellow North region foe Sacramento City. Taft setter Lehua Yap had 36 assists and three aces. Also for Taft, Janice Fonoti tallied 14 kills and five blocks (four solo), while Pikake Nutter-Gaudet had 12 kills and three aces. Kaena Apana scored 10 kills and three aces. Lisa Sotelo added 11 digs for the state's No. 5-ranked team. For Sacramento, Deja Sweeney closed out her All-State season with 10 kills and seven digs. Alyssa Giannuzzi had 28 assists.

Game 7-North No. 1 San Joaquin Delta (21-1) d. South No. 2 LA Pierce (18-3),
30-13, 30-26, 30-23, at Blanchard Gym

Recap: In a matchup of the No. 3 and No. 4 ranked teams in the state, tournament host and North top seed Delta used outstanding hitting to sweep Los Angeles Pierce in a non-elimination match. Delta hit .387 as a team, including Cindy Stayton's .455 on 19 kills in 33 attempts. Another strong point for Delta was serving with 14 aces (only two for Pierce) led by Katie Hoag with four and Stayton, Breanne Zelmer, and Sarah Buhr with three each. Hoag also had nine kills and 12 digs. Jennifer Emerson set well with 44 assists. Zellmer contributed 10 kills. For Pierce, Tanya White spiked nine kills and Brandy Houston had eight kills and four blocks.

Game 8-South No. 1 Golden West (23-1) d. South No. 3 San Diego Mesa (19-4),
30-19, 30-25, 30-16, at Marcopulos Gym

Recap: The Rustlers continued their usually sharp play at state tournament matches with a solid sweep over a tough Mesa Olympians team in a winner's bracket contest. Golden West had exceptional play by Cheryl Selenek, who scored 14 kills and a team-high 17 digs, and by Sarah Hudson with 15 kills and nine digs. Selenek served during a 7-0 run in game three that gave Golden West a 15-4 lead. Also for Golden West, 6-foot Rachel Falco towered to 10 kills in only 19 attempts (.474 percentage) and added five blocks. For Mesa, Amanda Pfielschiefter led the way with 13 kills (.407) and Bri Beal had 12 kills and 11 digs. Rustlers' setter Ashley Miller scored 43 assists and libero Katie Jackels was strong with 15 digs and two aces. Golden West hit .323 as a team to just .097 for Mesa.

Game 9-North No. 2 Taft (23-2) d. South No. 2 LA Pierce (18-4),
18-30, 30-23, 30-27, 30-23, at Blanchard Gym
LA Pierce is eliminated, finishes in a tie for fifth place at state tourney

Recap: LA Pierce's first trip ever to the state championship tournament ended with a four-game loss to another new participant to state finals play-Taft. The Brahmas took the first game, but Taft rebounded with strong blocking and a balanced hitting attack. Taft's Pikake Nutter-Gaudet tallied 18 kills and setter Lehua Yap had 44 assists, 14 digs, three aces and four blocks. Kaena Apana and Paepaetele Poasa each notched double-doubles with 13 kills, 14 digs and 13 kills, 16 digs, respectively. Poasa also scored seven blocks and had four assists. Janice Fonoti, a consistent presence at the tournament, added 11 kills and six blocks. For Pierce and Coach Nabil Mardini, Tanya White tallied 19 kills, setter Samantha Sullivan had 50 assists, and Erin Lawhorn picked up 10 kills, 13 digs, and three aces. Brandy Houston spiked 12 kills and Jenise Espindola did her job at libero with a match-high 19 digs.

Game 10-South No. 3 San Diego Mesa (20-4) d. South No. 4 Cypress (13-10),
30-20, 30-28, 30-23, at Marcopulos Gym
Cypress is eliminated and finish in a tie for fifth place at the state tourney

Recap: The Cinderella story of the No. 16 seed from the South, Cypress, came to a close with a sweep by the Olympians of San Diego Mesa. Strong serving by Mesa influenced the match as Melissa Ford served a pair of aces in a 9-0 run to pull away in game one. The Chargers led 15-10 in the second game, but a 10-5 run by Mesa took the momentum away. An ace by Bri Beal finished off that game, 30-28. For the winning Olympians, who insure themselves of at least a fourth place here, Ford delivered team-highs with 15 kills, 23 digs and five aces. Beal had 14 kills, 10 digs and three aces. Setter Jessica Endean had 47 assists and libero Maile Adolphson contributed 21 digs. Rayna Richardson scored 10 kills and Amanda Pfielschiefter knocked down nine kills and three blocks. Cypress was paced by Breezie James with 10 kills. Chargers' Coach Nancy Welliver talked about her team's exciting playoff run which included three wins over top 10 ranked teams.
"The matchups were favorable for us. I was thrilled to face El Camino at No. 1 and us at 16 since we had played them in two close matches earlier in the season," she said. "Orange Coast we had faced twice in the conference, so again we were familiar with them. The team turned it around when we made Nancy Laguna our libero. She was phenomenal in the playoffs and helped spark the team turnaround." Cypress participated in its first-ever state tournament.

Sunday, Dec. 5-10 a.m.-elimination match-Taft v. San Diego Mesa

Game 11-South No. 1 Golden West (24-1) d. North No. 1 SJ Delta (21-2),
30-26, 30-19, 33-31

Recap: The Rustlers are one win away from winning their 12th consecutive state championship after sweeping the North top seed Delta Saturday night. Golden West handed the Mustangs their second loss of the season after also beating Delta in three games during a regular season match. Golden West used superior blocking to take control of the match as Taylor Love led the way with six blocks (three solos) to go with 12 kills and 10 digs. Sarah Hudson is on her way to All-Tournament honors with a 16-kill, three-block effort, while Cheryl Selenek delivered eight kills and 12 digs. Katie Jackels tallied a match-high 19 digs and Rachel Falco had seven kills and five blocks. The Rustlers had 15 blocks overall to just five by Delta. For the Mustangs, Breanne Zelmer scored 16 kills and 14 digs, and Cindy Stayton knocked down 15 kills and 11 digs. Sarah Buhr added 11 kills, 10 digs and four blocks. Six Delta players reached double figures in digs. In the deciding third game, two blocks each by Hudson and Falco were part of a 7-1 run that gave Golden West a 24-18 lead. Delta fought back on a pair of Buhr kills to tie it 31-31, but two unforced attack errors gave the Rustlers the match. Overall, Delta was hurt by 32 hitting errors, compared to 14 for Golden West. Delta will play the winner of the 10 a.m. match between Taft and San Diego Mesa at 1 p.m. Sunday. If Delta wins, it would face Golden West one more time in the finals at 5 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 5-10 a.m.-elimination match-Taft v. San Diego Mesa, loser is fourth place at tourney
1 p.m.-elimination match-Taft-Mesa winner v. San Joaquin Delta, loser is third place at tourney
5 p.m.-championship-SJ Delta or TBA v. Golden West

Recaps by Robert Lewis