WOMENS VOLLEYBALL: Cabrillo Takes Care of Business in Playoff Opener

Cabrillo 3, College of the Sequoias 0

The Star: Sophomore setter Brooke Carroll led the charge, piling up 29 assists, one ace, four digs and one kill in the win. The San Lorenzo Valley native came back with force after sitting out last couple of weeks due to injury.

The Turning Point: Down by three points in the third set, 10-13, Cabrillo head coach Gabby Houston-Neville was forced to call a timeout to refocus her team. After the pep talk, the Seahawks rallied back and found their winning form. Cabrillo eventually won the third and final game, 29-27.

The Quote: "We got the victory by continuing to play the game we wanted to play." —Cabrillo head coach Gabby Houston-Neville

What's Next? Cabrillo will host a second-round playoff bout Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Bottom Line:  It was another sweep by the No. 1 ranked Seahawks, but this one took a little more work than usual. The home team survived a late game scare to fend off the pesky lower seed in straight sets.

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APTOS—In a tough first-round matchup, the Cabrillo College (25-1) women's volleyball team pulled out a very important victory on their quest toward winning the state championship.

The Seahawks defeated the women from the Central Valley, No. 16-seed College of the Sequoias (16-4), 3-0 on a chilly Tuesday evening at Cabrillo College.

The lower seed gave Cabrillo a hard time throughout the night. but the Seahawks' overall skill and depth eventually wore down their opponent en route to the home sweep.

Outside hitter Ally Russo, middle blocker Skyler Moon and outside hitter Summer Mitchell led the way with a combined 31 kills.

"I played good today and came out aggressive," Eagle, ID, native Summer Mitchell said after the win.

Cabrillo's next game is Saturday night at home and is slated for a 7 p.m. start.

No. 8-seed American River College defeated No. 9-seeded Feather River College 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-22) Tuesday night.

American River, from Sacramento, will square off against the top-seed Cabrillo bunch this weekend.  

On a 45-degree night outside in Aptos, the temperature inside was nice and toasty with both sides heating things up early and often.

Cabrillo's attacked early, busting out four consecutive runs of four points. The scoring bursts kept their opponents trailing for the majority of the opening set as the Seahawks pulled out a 25-17 victory.

Led by team play in the second game, the Seahawks forced Sequoias into a lot of mistakes.

Several balls landed into the net; other shots flew long and out of bounds. 

"Today's victory was very scary, but I'm glad we got the win in tonight's first round game," Mitchell said.

Cabrillo won game two, 25-17, but the visitors still had plenty of fight left in them.

The Sequoias gave the Seahawks some tough love early, jumping out to a 13-10 lead midway through the set.

Cabrillo called timeout and Coach Gabby Houston-Neville told her team, "We need to play our game and not go to a fourth game."

The finale became a see-saw struggle after that, ending with a stirring climax for the home team.

All tied up at 27-27, Carroll set up Moon for a big smash winner to pull the Seahawks ahead by one.

On the very next exchange, a Sequoias return shot headed for the back corner sailed out of bounds to clinch the set and the match for Cabrillo.