N2 American River (28-4) 3, S3 LA Mission (27-5) 1, 25-20, 25-18, 23-25, 25-21

WALNUT -- There was no coincidence why American River College is here for a sixth straight apperance at the 3C2A State Women's Volleyball Championship. The Beavers have height and that was a factor in a heavy block that was too much for LA Mission's attack in a 4-set quarterfinals #3 victory on Friday evening.

ARC received another sterling performance by 5-foot-11 Morgan Castaneda, who rifled 21 kills (hit .292) with 10 digs and three blocks, but the Beavers also relied on the blocking and net talents of 6-1 Celestine Hayes (three kills, five blocks), 6-foot Mallory Kuehl (five kills in only six attacks and six blocks), 5-11 Kyla Powell, who chipped in seven kills and two blocks, and 5-10 Amiah Cornejo, who contributed five kills and served three aces off the ARC bench. 

"Our middle blockers did a great job of interfering and disrupting LA Mission's middles," Lowden said. "We feel we are at our best when our serving and blocking are reciprocal and working together. We struggled against LA Mission's dig as they are tough defensively. Morgan was her usual Morgan doing Morgan things."

Making its first trip to state in the 11-year history of the Eagles program, 5-10 Oluwatoyin Sunday scored 18 kills with three blocks while Rio Sandaiji added 12 kills and 13 digs. Lilian Pisarcyk, like ARC's big middles imposing at 6-3 in height, collected four kills and four blocks. Setter Taylor Boone was solid with 41 assists, eight digs, two kills and two aces and Tawnie Ohrt had seven kills.

"We definitely made mistakes early and offensively couldn't put pressure on them," said LA Mission head coach Nabil Mardini. "We started to serve better and that's how we were able to come back in the third set. In the end, American River just had more weapons than we had."

Consecutive blocks by ARC helped it take a 19-18 lead in the first set. A Cady Hatch kill capped that 5-point win. In the second set, American River jumped ahead 20-10 and ultimately took a 2-0 sets lead on a Castaneda blast. In the third, LA Mission found its scrappy game, taking a 12-8 lead on of Sophia Vazquez's three aces. The Eagles led 24-19 on a Sunday kill, but ARC bounced back with four striaght points capped on a Hatch dump kill. Sunday though delivered a kill for Mission's set win.

In the fourth set, American River pulled ahead 17-13, and then 23-19 on an ace by Cornejo. Castaneda fittingly used her power hitting skills to drive home match point. 

ARC plays the winner of the S1 Long Beach City v. N4 Feather River match in the semifinals on Saturday.

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

N4 Feather River (30-7) d. N2 American River (28-5), 3-0: 25-19, 25-22, 25-23

WALNUT -- After twice being swept by American River in the regular season, a hungry Feather River College team fully savored a third opportunity v. the Beavers in performing a sweep in the 3C2A Women's Volleyball Championship semifinals on Saturday evening. 

Despite being the North's #4 seed and #6 in the regional playoffs, the Golden Eagles return to the state final for the third straight season as they face state #1-ranked Fresno City in the championship match on Sunday at 2 p.m.

The Battle of the Rivers began with Tiare Faupula scoring four kills and making three blocks in a 6-point opening set triumph. Feather River led 15-7 and ran away with the game and a 1-0 lead.

In the second set, ARC jumped out to a 9-3 lead only to see FRC go on a 5-0 run to slice it to one. The Beavers would then lead 14-11 and 17-14 before Feather River went on an 8-2 run capped by a block by Faupula and Ledua Koi for a 22-19 advantage. Two kills by Ane Tuinauvai and a another stuff by Lucy Ryan and Mia Rivera captured the 3-point win and a commanding 2-0 sets lead.

In the third, the Beavers tried to rally as 6-foot-2 Jayda Moran came off the bench to record a pair of blocks with teammate Malloy Kuehl and built a 14-6 lead. An Amiah Cornejo/Celestine Hayes block doubled the score at 16-8 and a kill by Kuehl later made it 18-11.

Tuinauvai, who missed both of the first two encounters with American River due to injury, buried three kills in a momentous 11-2 run to give FRC a 22-20 lead. A push kill by Kaylynn Whitt, an ace by Sofia McPherson, and an attack error by FRC regained the lead for American River at 23-22. 

The Beavers though couldn't finish off the set as a solo block by Mia Rivera was sandwiched by two rifle kills by Ryan to complete the surprising sweep Feather River sweep.

"We were willing to do everything we could possibly do to get back to the championship match," said the All-State First Team sophomore opposite Ryan, who finished with 12 kills (hit .333) and five blocks. "We came together as a team and we just won by bringing so much energy. Everyone did well today."

Overall for Feather River, quarterfinals hero Chloe Albiez powered 10 kills, Tuinauvai eight kills with 12 digs, Faupula seven kills (.313) and five blocks, and Rivera three kills and six blocks. Teya Gibbs was a setting/defensive stalwart on 13 assists and 12 digs while the team's starting setter Maya Cann dished out 24 assists.

For American River, All-American Morgan Castaneda was limited to 10 kills with 10 digs, Kuehl had four kills, five blocks, and two aces, and Cornejo scored six kills.

"Feather River swung aggressively with a nothing to lose, underdog mentality," said ARC head coach Carson Lowden, who brought her team to the state tourney for the sixth straight season. "I thought we served and passed well. We didn't put enough offensive pressure on them. The difference was that they just did a great job in transition."

The two finalists have won four of the last seven state championships with Feather River winning in 2019 and 2022 while Fresno took home the titles in 2016 and 2019.

Feather River brings in an 11-match win streak. American River had a 13-match win string snapped.

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