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Great teams don’t have to be great all the time, just when they need to be.
Such was the case for the Foothill High girls’ volleyball team in the North Coast Section Division I championship on Saturday night.
The Falcons came into the finals 35-1 and the top seed in the tournament. But following a 25-17 loss in the third set, the Falcons found themselves trailing 2-1 to No. 3 seed Marin Catholic.
A tough spot to be sure, but this has been a resilient Foothill team this year, as during the East Bay Athletic League playoffs, the Falcons trailed both Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley 2-0 before rallying to win 3-2.
It wasn’t an intimidating spot for the team and once again the Falcons rallied, winning the fourth set 25-20, and then the fifth and deciding set 15-7.
It was the first NCS championship for Foothill since 2010 after making the finals four previous times since winning its last title.
In the title match, the Falcons got big play from the usual suspects. Katie Salonga had 51 assists, 12 digs and 10 service points.
Paige Bennett had 22 kills, 16 service points and 15 digs. Kaycie Burdick added 19 digs and 14 kills, with Nisa Kincaid rounding out the attack with 10 kills and one block.
To reach the finals, the Falcons had to face rival Amador Valley — the only team to beat Foothill this year — in the semifinals.
It was another battle, but the Falcons prevailed 25-21, 17-25, 25-22, 25-18. Highlights came from Bennett (22 kills, 14 digs), Salonga (36 assists, 9 digs) and Paige Nelson (6 kills, 2 blocks).
The two wins moved Foothill to 36-1 on the season.
The seeds for the CIF State Playoffs came out Sunday, and while first-round games will have already been played when this hits the paper, both Amador Valley and Foothill are in the tournament.
Foothill was awarded the No. 3 seed in the prestigious Open Division, while Amador was seeded No. 5 in the D-I playoffs.
It is a blessing and a curse for Foothill. Had the Falcons been placed in the D-I brackets where they belong size-wise, they would have been the top seed and had a real chance to make a run for a CIF State title.
Now kicked up to Open, they are one of only two public schools in the eight-team bracket. Foothill and No. 8 Redwood are joined by six private schools that are allowed to play by a different set of rules in terms of admission standards.
The other six teams may sound familiar when it comes to volleyball powerhouses. Mitty (1), Saint Francis (2), Sacred Heart Prep (4), Branson (5), St. Mary’s-Stockton (6) and St. Ignatius (7) make up the rest of the Open field.
On the flip side, there are only four private schools in the 16-team, D-I field.
NCS football
When Amador Valley fell 12-7 to Foothill in the fifth week of the season, one had to wonder how that would affect the Dons when it came time for NCS seedings.
Those questions were answered on Sunday when the Open/Division I seedings and brackets were announced.
That they lost to the 1-9 Falcons was a huge blow to the Dons.
Amador played without starting quarterback Tristian Tia and his cousin and offensive lineman Paul Tia the first five games of the season thanks to horribly inconsistent transfer rules.
Once the Tias were in the fold, the Dons went 4-0, outscoring their opponents by an average of 52-1.75. That should have been enough for the 7-2 Dons to get a No. 3 seed and a home game to start the playoffs.
But when a selection committee — that sees four walls more often than high school football games — notes comparative scores of California 48-Foothill 0, Clayton Valley 41-Foothill 29 and Foothill 12-Amador 7, you can expect California and Clayton Valley to be seeded ahead of Amador.
And that’s exactly what happened with Clayton Valley No. 4 and California No. 5. That meant Amador was No. 6.
Honestly, it stinks for Amador’s upcoming opponent Pittsburg as well. Getting the No. 3 seed should mean an easier matchup than the most explosive offense in the section.
I fully expect the Dons to go into Pittsburg this Friday and come out with the win.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
