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CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY
COLLEGE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL REGIONALS
UPSETS GALORE IN SOCAL,
NORCAL STAYS STATUS QUO
El Camino College's occupation
of the No. 1 ranking in the state and No. 1 seed in the Southern California
region lasted just a few days as No. 16 seed Cypress shocked the Warriors in
five games and highlighted an upset-filled first round of the 2004 California
Community College women's volleyball regional playoffs Nov. 23.
The upsets all occurred in the SoCal playoffs as El Camino was joined in elimination
with No. 4 seed Ventura and No. 6 Palomar. It was almost four upsets as No.
3 Los Angeles Pierce (16-2) held on to edge No. 14 Irvine Valley, 29-31, 30-23,
28-30, 33-31, 16-14, in a marathon playoff. For Pierce, Kha'Tara Steen scored
19 kills, Tanya White had 17 kills and five blocks, and Sam Sullivan tallied
67 assists. The Lasers, last season's state runner-up, stormed into the playoffs
with a seven-game winning streak, but finished at 13-7.
Cypress (11-8) had 27 kills from Tordra Sessions and 24 by Breezie James in
ruining a perfect season for El Camino. The Chargers won by scores of 30-26,
31-29, 22-30, 27-30, 15-12. El Camino, the South Coast Conference champions,
was the last undefeated team in the state and finished the year at 17-1.
The No. 13 seed College of the Canyons went the distance to oust fellow Western
State Conference foe and No. 4 Ventura, 30-32, 30-28, 30-25, 23-30, 15-13. Ventura
had 26 kills by Danielle Falk and 22 kills-29 digs by Taryn Mulford but the
WSC North champion Pirates fell to a season finish of 15-5. Canyons improved
to 13-6.
Finally, it was No. 11 Santa Barbara (13-6) slaying No. 6 Palomar in a sweep,
30-21, 31-29, 30-26. The Comets (14-5) were the second place team from the Pacific
Coast Conference.
Golden West, a team that was ranked No. 1 all season on the State Volleyball
Top 25 poll but was handed the No. 2 seed in the region, had no problems in
downing No. 15 Long Beach, 30-20, 30-15, 30-22. The Orange Empire Conference
champion Rustlers (20-1) were led by Rachel Falco and Cheryl Selenak with 12
kills each. Long Beach closed out at 12-7. Golden West is also the 11-time defending
state champions.
Orange Coast (15-5), No. 8 seed, swept No. 9 and Foothill Conference champion
San Bernardino Valley, 30-28, 30-23, 30-18. The Pirates were paced by Donka
Drozd with 17 kills and Melissa Zapiain with 16 kills. Caitlin Parker added
46 assists. San Bernardino finished at 13-2 despite 11 kills by Christine Hurt.
In other SoCal regionals, No. 5 and Pacific Coast Conference champion San Diego
Mesa (17-3) swept No. 12 Cuesta (13-10), 30-21, 30-24, 30-21, while No. 7 and
Co-WSC South Division champion Santa Monica (15-6) had a slow start before defeating
No. 10 Victor Valley (12-6), 29-31, 30-20, 30-17, 30-15.
NORTH REGION
While the South had wild affairs, the North region's top eight seeds and host
schools all moved into the second round with opening round victories. San Joaquin
Delta (18-1), the No. 1 seed and No. 3 team in the state, swept No. 16 San Jose
(10-7), 30-14, 30-18, 30-14. Delta's Jennifer Emerson served during a 12-0 run
by the Mustangs in the opening game to set the tone of the match.
Taft, the No. 2 seed and Central Valley Conference champions, knocked out CVC
foe and No. 15 Porterville (10-12), 30-26, 30-20, 30-26. Led by All-State setter
Lehua Yap, Taft improved to 20-1 and swept an opponent for the 12th consecutive
match. Butte, the Golden Valley Conference champs and 19-1, took four games
to get past No. 14 De Anza (12-9), 30-26, 25-30, 30-18, 30-18.
Sacramento City College, No. 4 and 16-4, swept No. 13 Sierra (12-4), 30-20,
30-19, 30-28. Another Bay Valley Conference team, No. 5 Santa Rosa (17-6), defeated
No. 12 American River (9-13), 30-28, 30-19, 28-30, 30-26. Sixth seed College
of the Sequoias (21-4) had to face No. 11 and CVC fellow opponent Reedley (10-10)
and took the match in three games, 30-24, 30-16, 30-18.
In another sweep, No. 7 Fresno City (17-5) downed No. 10 and Coast Conference
South champion West Valley (12-10), 30-26, 30-19, 30-15. Shasta, the No. 9 seed
at 13-6, used 17 kills by Katie Wilson and 15 kills-16 digs from Michelle Laurent
to oust No. 9 Chabot (16-3), 24-30, 30-27, 30-22, 30-21. Also for the Knights,
Jessica Sylvester delivered 59 assists.
The second round of the regional playoffs takes place Saturday, Nov. 27. Check
the COA website for pairings.
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Robert Lewis, CCCWVCA Publicist/Statistician
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