St. Francis’ Katherine Brown goes up for a block Thursday against Castilleja of San Jose. St. Francis won in five games.

WATSONVILLE — It may not have been a CCS playoff game or a tournament final, but St. Francis was able to enact some degree of revenge Thursday night, as the Sharks beat rival Castilleja of San Jose in five games in front of the home crowd, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18, 13-25, 15-7.

Castilleja has ended the Sharks’ past two seasons. In 2007, St. Francis fell in five games to Castilleja in the Central Coast Section D-V semifinals. The year before that, Castilleja beat the Sharks in the CCS finals, and then again in the NorCal D-V finals.

“We were trying not to make such a big deal out of it,” St. Francis senior Katherine Brown said. “We knew it was their first game, and so we expect them to be a lot better team the next time we see them.”

The teams traded games through the first four sets, as both teams looked very sharp at times, and out of synch at others. St. Francis broke the huddle to an “Our house” cheer to open the deciding game, and came out firing. The Sharks dropped the first point, but raced back to take a quick 4-1 lead, and cruised to a 15-7 win for the victory.

“After the fourth game, we said, ‘We’re not going to leave here without a win,’” Brown said.

Brown, who has signed a scholarship to play volleyball at Cal next season, finished with a game-high 18 kills. She also had five blocks and an ace. Alison Uyeda had five aces and five digs for the Sharks (8-2), and Megan House added nine kills.

Taylor Docter had 15 kills to lead Castilleja (0-1), and Erin McLaughlin had 14.

“They’re going to be a completely different team in the postseason,” St. Francis coach Denise Shelton said of Castilleja. “It feels nice; it’s a little bit of an ego-boost right now, but it’s not as much as you might assume.

“I don’t feel any more prepared now than I did before,” she said. “The great thing, though, is that they broke that mystique of Castilleja, I guess.”

Castilleja coach Tracie Mestall said she expects the two teams to meet again this year – perhaps with more on the line.

“It’s always a battle with these teams,” she said. “We expect to see them at CCS.”

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Mustangs get a win over PCS

Monte Vista Christian won a four-game match over host Pacific Collegiate School of Santa Cruz Thursday, 25-17, 26-24, 21-25, 25-18.

Senior setter Alex Blaser finished with 19 assists, three aces, six digs and three blocks for MVC, while sister Brita Blaser, a freshman hitter, had a team-high 16 kills, three aces and 11 digs.

The Mustangs will play again on Saturday at the Carmichael Invitational.

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Mariners fall to Los Gatos

Aptos fell to Los Gatos in four Thursday, 25-18, 25-14, 20-25, 25-23.

Chloe Tushar led the way for Aptos (2-4) with eight kills, while Sarah LeFever and Molly Glaser each had five. Taylor Gorman had four blocks and three kills off the bench.

Aptos will play again this weekend at the Milpitas Spikefest tournament.

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North County falls to Breakers

North Monterey County fell to 1-3 Thursday, losing to host Pacific Grove in three games, 25-20, 27-25, 25-23.

Kristie Zubiate had a team-high eight digs for the Condors, while Jordan Cosby had five kills. Samantha Williams had five blocks and four kills, and Leanna Barrients fished with 14 assists.

NMC will play on Monday, when the Condors host Salinas at 6:30 p.m.

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Grizzlies fall to Knights

Pajaro Valley lost to the host Soquel Knights in a nonleague match Thursday, 25-18, 25-19, 25-12. The Grizzlies play again Tuesday, when they host Gonzalez at 6:30 p.m.



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(Published on Sept. 5, 2008)

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Photo by I.A. Stewart/Register-Pajaronian

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