Cabrillo Defeats Foothill, 3-0, To Face Canyons

State Championship Brackets

at College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita

Match 4—N1 Cabrillo d. N2 Foothill, 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-21)
Records: Cabrillo 27-2, Foothill 28-3
Foothill finishes its season, 4^th place at the state tournament

It was not just the Battle of the North but the rubber match between that region's top two teams. And in 2015, Cabrillo won bragging rights for NorCal for the third straight year with a resounding sweep over the Owls.

The Seahawks used a dominating performance by Marcela Frazzoni to propel the win. Frazzoni crushed a match-high 16 kills, including six in the opening set and had eight of her game best 14 digs during the game. Cabrillo led 3-2 and 10-4 and never looked back.

In set 2, Cabrillo led 9-4 and ran away with the set as Frazzoni served three straight aces all on strategic high lobs to put the set away. In the final set, Foothill's All-American OH Riana Brennan played with an injured leg as the Owls made a valiant late comeback. Cabrillo led 14-7 with Brennan resting, but after she returned, Foothill woke up with an 8-1 run that tied it.

Cabrillo's block came up big later in the set with Patrice Williams and Olivia Tabron combining on two blocks, including match point. Williams finished with eight kills (hit .571 in 14 attempts) and five blocks while Tabron added seven kills and four blocks. Defensively, the Seahawks had four players reach double figures in digs but Natalie Picone was the most spectacular of the group with several diving saves as she made 12 digs. Setter Eden Fukushima converted 33 assists and 12 digs while Alyssa Nelson had 12 digs and two aces.

For Foothill, Brennan's brilliant community college career came to an end as the two-time All-American scored seven kills and 12 digs. Camila Mauricio led the Owls with nine kills, Vivian Noka had seven kills, and Gabrielle Firpo totaled 11 digs and set 16 assists with two aces.

Foothill's fourth place finish is the school's highest since it took third place at the 1998 tournament.

Cabrillo will now at least finish no lower than third place after winning the state title in 2013 and taking state runner-up last year.

Foothill coach Katy Ripp reflected on her team's run.

"We came out really strong at the beginning of the season," she said. "I felt we executed our game plan against Pierce well, but we didn't pass well in either of our matches here. Against Cabrillo, we definitely never got in sync on offense. I'm proud of our team's accomplishments this year. Riana will go down as one of the great players we've ever had at Foothill and she is not only an amazing player, but a great competitor and has guts. She will go far at the next level."

Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWVCA/CCCAA State WVB SID, rmlewis@pasadena.edu

photo by Richard Quinton