Women's Volleyball state quarterfinal: Feather River blocks out Ventura in four sets

N3-FEATHER RIVER d. S2-VENTURA, 25-17, 25-27, 25-20, 25-17

(WALNUT) -- Feather River College used an athletic block and efficient hitting from middle hitters Kiyana Faupula and Franny Martins to knock off Ventura in four sets in the quarterfinals of the 3C2A State Women's Volleyball Championship on Friday.

Faupula pounded 12 kills (hit .367) and made seven blocks while Martins added nine kills (.467) and eight blocks. FRC's defense was also huge behind All-American libero Katherine Gee, who was as advertised in making a match-high 23 digs to go with four aces. Autumn Bennett added nine kills (.333) while Ashlee Kraft had seven kills, three aces, five blocks and eight digs. Setter Anna Bolich contributed 32 assists and three dump kills. 

The Golden Eagles (27-5), the defending state champions, offset the power hitting of Pirates' All-American Kayla Murdoch (match-high 18 kills and 13 digs) and teammate Kylie Ibbotson (15 kills, three aces), forcing the pair into 24 attack errors despite a combined 33 kills by the duo.

Ventura's first trip to the state tourney in 23 years still proved a strong effort, especially the outstanding defense of libero Autumn Rojelio, who made 21 digs, 13 set assists and two aces. Ashley Johnson chipped in 31 assists, nine digs, and four blocks, and Talia Behren floored 12 kills. The Pirates ended their year at 21-4.

Feather River head coach Sarah Ritchie talked about the difference between last year's champion and this year's squad. 

"We don't have the tall, big hitters, the big horses we had last year, but what we do have are multiple ponies," Ritchie joked. "We had to work harder, be faster this year. We were not good at the block at the start of the year, but it's been a strength for us in the playoffs. We watched hours of video, and we got to know every Ventura player's name and their tendencies. We knew Murdoch was going to get her kills, but our middles were really on today. Our block forced them into errors."

In the first set, the teams were tied at 15-15 before FRC went on a 10-2 run to close out an 8-point win. In set #2, Ventura battled back, taking a 16-11 lead. The Golden Eagles rallied and held set point at 24-23, but Ventura picked up a key ace on a rotation error by Feather River for a 25-24 lead. After Faupula tied it on a kill, the Pirates scored the extra-point win behind kills by Talia Behrens and Murdoch.

Feather River would go up 2-1, taking a 15-10 lead with Ventura cutting it to 18-15. Faupula had back-to-back assisted blocks for a 5-point advantage and eventually closed out the third set by five points. The set featured an amazing 20-play rally as both Gee and Rojelio put on a defensive clinic to dig out several attacks in the flurry.

In the fourth, FRC broke a 9-9 tie on an 8-0 run behind the serving of Bolich, who had an ace and two big kills by Bennett. Martins slammed a kill for match point.

Ventura head coach Brad Lyans said, "It's never fun to lose, but I love the fact that we made it this far, and got a little tase of what excellence feels like. We played well enough at times, and well enough to take that second set. We just ran into an opponent who was just a little more consistent than us. We look forward to working hard this off-season to get back here next year."

Feather River will face South #4 Irvine Valley, an upset winner over state #1 San Joaquin Delta, in the semifinals on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Release by Robert Lewis, 3C2A/CCCWVCA SID