Reverse sweep sends Feather River to state women's volleyball crown

N4 Feather River (31-7) 3, N1 Fresno City (30-5) 2: 26-28, 21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 15-5

WALNUT -- Down 2-0, Feather River College flipped the switch on Fresno City and roared all the way back to grab the 3C2A Women's Volleyball Championship in five sets on Sunday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles (31-7) captured their third state title, all in the last six years, under head coach Sarah Ritchie. Feather River also was state runner-up last year in losing to San Diego Mesa.

FRC won the rubber match v. the Rams after the two teams had split their regular season meetings. 

"No worries, we're going to just put the reverse sweep on them," said Ritchie about the dire straits situation of being behind 2-0. "While we have so many freshmen in key roles, they remained calm and we started to play the type of volleyball we're capable of getting done." 

Ritchie performed the splits much to the joy of her players during the post-match awards presentation. 

Most Valuable Player Chloe Albiez hammered 23 kills in 50 swings, hitting .380, while adding 11 digs and three blocks. The 6-foot freshman outside hitter led all players at the tourney in kills with 53.

"We were getting angry after we fell behind 2-0, but our coach just told us that we are family, and that just picked us all up," Albiez said. "Getting back Ane Tuinauvai was like a gamechanger for us. She is such a great leader on the floor, and once we got her back, we just started to kick into another gear."

Ritchie echoed Albiez's praises, saying "Ane passed everything for us the entire tournament. She made a world of difference for this team."

A 5-10, sophomore outside hitter, Tuinauvai battled through injuries all season as she missed the team's first 10 matches this year due to an ACL sprain, then missed nine more in October with tendonitis in her knee. With her out of the lineup, the team lost all seven of its matches, but with her, Feather River was a perfect 19-0. 

During the title match, she was a defensive force with 22 digs while posting 10 kills and setting six assists. Besides the inspired leadership and play of Tuinauvai and the power hitting show by Albiez, Feather River's block was relentless, finishing with 13 team block kills. Lucy Ryan scored seven blocks (and 12 kills, hit .313), Mia Rivera seven blocks (and seven kills), Tiare Faupula six blocks, and Ledua Koi three stuffs. 

In the opening set, the teams traded 14 ties before Phoebe Constable gave Fresno an extra points win with a kill. In the second set, the Rams went ahead 17-10, FRC rallied to cut to 22-21 on a dump kill by Maya Cann. Fresno responded with a kill by its All-American setter Savanna FauntLeroy and one by Karina Rodriguez as it went on to a 4-point victory and a commanding 2-0 sets lead.

In the third, Feather River picked up steam and momentum. After falling behind 4-0 with FauntLeroy serving two aces, FRC put together a 10-3 run capped by a block by Faupula and Koi. The Golden Eagles ran away with the set as Albiez pounded seven kills.

The spirited play of FRC continued in the fourth set as Rivera came up big with five kills and four blocks. Her kill at 11-10 gave the team a sideout and Maya Cann then went on a 6-0 serving run with Rivera scoring a kill and a block. Feather River built it to 22-14, then finished off the set #4 win on a kill by Tuianauvai.

The fifth set was all Golden Eagles as Tuinauvai ripped a kill for a 5-1 lead. Fresno cut it to 5-3, but FRC went on another 5-1 run ending on a dink kill by Albiez. The last four points were all Fresno attack errors that completed the 5-set marathon win.

"The match changed when Feather River started playing in system while we were not passing well," said Fresno head coach Kieran Roblee. "They did a good job of running their offense through their middles. It was a tough loss, but I'm so proud of the way we showed so much growth throughout the season and thrived to get to state."

Tuinauvai said, "It's like we went from hell and back to win it. But once we won that third set, it's like we found so much energy in the fourth and fifth sets."

Fresno was led by FauntLeroy, who set 45 assists, had 10 digs, five kills, four aces and three blocks. The talented sophomore was the Rams' top player all season. An MVP candidate herself and named Setter of the Tournament, she finished with 131 assists, 24 kills, 36 digs, 13 blocks, and five aces.

Also for the Rams in the final, Ashlan VanGronigen scored 14 kills, Rodriguez 12, and Reese Cuttone was solid with 11 kills and five blocks (two solos). Constable added nine kills and 22 digs while Malia Edwardson contributed 19 digs and two aces. FCC committed 42 attack errors overall as FRC outhit the Rams percentage-wise, .238 to .072. Fresno saw a 23-match win streak snapped.

For Feather River, Mia Rossman collected 21 digs and three aces, Cann 33 assists, 12 digs and three kills, and Teya Gibbs added 13 assists and nine digs. 

The North Region has current bragging rights over the South as it has now won eight of the last 11 state championships after the South had monopolized the state crown for the tournament's first 36 years from 1977-2012.

ALL-STATE TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP-Chloe Albiez, Feather River
Ane Tuinauvai, Feather River
Lucy Ryan, Feather River
Savanna FauntLeroy, Fresno CC-Setter of the Tourney
Malia Edwardson, Fresno CC-Libero of the Tourney
Phoebe Constable, Fresno CC
Jasmine Soto-Castro, Cerritos
Paige Skinner, Sierra
Oluwatoyin Sunday, LA Mission
Kaylani Moncada, Long Beach CC
Bella Town, San Diego Mesa
Morgan Castaneda, American River

Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWVCA/3C2A State Tournament SID