If you’re a basketball fan, or coach or player, you’re probably ansxiously waiting to find out if your team made the playoffs or what seed your team earned. Wait no more. Our sister blog Prep Corner is live at the NCS girls and boys basketball meetings and will be posting the seeds as they come in. So check in at the Prep Corner to catch live updates.

I guess we’re not the only ones who think Tarah Murrey was one of the best volleyball players in the area. Gatarade thinks she’s the best in the STATE. We won’t argue.

Check it out: 

Saint Mary’s High School STANDOUT NAMED
GATORADE CALIFORNIA VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

CHICAGO (December 11, 2007) — In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with RISE Magazine, today announced Tarah Murrey of Saint Mary’s High School as its 2007-08 Gatorade California Volleyball Player of the Year.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Murrey as California’s best high school volleyball player. Murrey is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award to be announced in mid-December.

The 6-foot-3 senior outside hitter averaged 6.3 kills per game this fall, finishing with a .494 hitting percentage and leading the Panthers (30-9) to a third straight North Coast Section title. The returning Contra Costa Times Player of the Year, Murrey recorded 412 kills, 141 digs, 59 aces and 34 blocks in 2007. After totaling 38 kills, 11 digs and seven aces in a 3-1 California Interscholastic Federation Division IV Northern regional quarterfinals victory against Ripon, she blasted 35 kills in a 3-2 semifinals loss to Harker. A member of the USA Volleyball Youth National Team, Murrey earned Most Valuable Player, Best Spiker and Best Scorer honors at the 2006 NORCECA World Championships.

Murrey has maintained a 3.14 GPA in the classroom. A year-round volleyball player, she is also an active volunteer in her community, coaching at Piedmont area youth camps. As an enthusiastic member of her school’s choir, she has also donated her time singing at local nursing homes.

“Her skill is at the highest level I’ve ever seen for a high school player,” said Saint Mary’s Head Coach Cassie Aschinger. “She’s an amazing athlete. She hits just as hard as most girls with her right hand, and she’s left-handed. She’s a very versatile player. As big as she is, she’s like a cat in the back row. She can get to anything.”

Murrey, whose father, Doug Murrey, was a 1981 NBA Draft pick by the Golden State Warriors, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball on scholarship at the University of California at Berkeley next fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field. The selection process is administered by RISE Magazine, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Murrey joins recent Gatorade California Volleyball Players of the Year two-time winner Alix Klineman (2006-07 & 2005-06, Mira Costa HS) and Cynthia Barboza (2004-05, Woodrow Wilson HS) among the state’s list of former award winners.

For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.

Sorry for the late post, it’s been a busy day with it being a short week because of Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday. Lots to get done. But in the spirit of the holidays, I’m giving you something to be thankful for… I’m not predicting any winners!

I decided not to do so because I was really bad at predicting during NCS, but here are some quick points on the match ups. Anything you knowledgeable fans out there can offer will be much appreciated as well. Comment away.

Division I

Davis at Amador Valley: A quick observation, the Dons are pretty tall. They have some height at the net in Jessica Atkins (5-10), Grace Vickers (6-1), Sophia Dunworth (6-1) and Kelsey Williams (5-10). Of course, height doesn’t equal wins but senior leadership does as Dunworth, Katie Gellerman and Janelle Larson help in that department. Amador Valley will need all of it since they’ll have a tough time against Davis, who went undefeated through the Delta Valley League and ended the season on a hot streak before losing to Nevada Union in the final.

San Ramon Valley at San Benito-Hollister: The Haybalers lost to Homestead in the CCS finals but they have the experience to put up a good fight in this match. San Benito was the defending CCS champions entering the tournament and reached the NorCal championship game last season. Foothill eliminated the Haybalers in 2006 on its road to the state championship match, so hopefully for the Wolves, the EBAL karma can help them out in this one.

Division II

Las Lomas at St. Francis-Sacramento: I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but the Knights are in trouble. St. Francis won the Division III state championship in 2005, moved up to Division II last season and lost in the 2006 NorCal finals to Archbishop Mitty. They also have a win over Division I No. 1 seed Nevada Union. Las Lomas won its first league title this season, so we’ll leave it right there.

Division III

St. Ignatius-San Francisco at Bishop O’Dowd: The Wildcats have played powers in Sacred Heart Cathedral, Archbishop Mitty, Notre Dame-Belmont, Presentation and St. Francis-Mountain View. They lost all of those matches, but if anything, the Wildcats are battle tested. Bishop O’Dowd showed it is battle tested as well by finally being on the winning end of a five-game thriller in the NCS championship match.

Division IV

Ripon at St. Mary’s: In playoff wins over Bret Harte, Le Grand, and Golden Sierra, the Indians didn’t lose a game. Then they bumped into Christian Brothers, the defending NorCal Division IV state finalists, and lost the section title in three. Ironically, it was Christian Brothers who eliminated the Panthers last season in the NorCal championsihps.

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

Hey volleyball fans, here’s a quick look at who our local teams will be facing on Tuesday. For the complete bracket visit www.cifstate.org.. Check back on Monday and I’ll try to give some analysis on the teams.

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

Division I
No. 6 Davis at No. 3 Amador Valley
No. 5 San Ramon Valley at No. 4 San Benito-Hollister.

Division II
No. 6 Las Lomas at No. 3 St. Francis-Sacramento.

Division III
No. 6 St. Ignatius-San Francisco at No. 3 Bishop O’Dowd.

Division IV
No. 6 Ripon at No. 3 St. Mary’s

Before we get into predections for Saturday’s matches, let me just say that I was at the Deer Valley v. San Ramon Valley match last night and both teams were playing some high quality volleyball.

The usually defensive-minded Wolverines came out strong offensively, proving they can hit the ball too, which led to a dominating Game 1. Things looked over before it started for SRV, but the Wolves had Lauren Claybaugh and Annie Begin, two smooth swinging outside hitters – and I really mean their form, starting with the three-step approach and follow through swing, is something watch – were too much in the fifth and final game.

Claybaugh took advantage of her reputation as the Wolverines played her deep all night, waiting for her booming shots. But she repeatedly took a little off her swing (a changeup if you will) to throw off the defense, which never picked up on Claybaugh’s adjustment.
“I saw they were laying back for us to hit, and I saw the opening and I went for it,” said Claybaugh who finsished with 22 kills. “It worked.”

After the first game, the Wolves had a pep in their step and were playing confidently, which led to the exciting win.

CORRECTION: I reported that SRV won an NCS Class 3A title in 1980 in last night’s game story. That’s right, however, I was wrong when I said it’s been 27 years since they last won NCS. The Wolves won it all in 2003 in Division II, when Kelly Crow was roaming the court.

Ok, NOw for some NCS final predictions:

Amador Valley d. San Ramon Valley: I went against the Dons once and I have learned my lesson. Sophia Dunworth, if you haven’t noticed or heard, is the TRUTH and I don’t think she’ll let this team lose. She even has a sidekick in Katie Gellerman, both four year varsity players ready to deliver the NCS championship that was lost in 2004, when they were both freshman. So yea, this is unfinished business. But here’s another cliché-like belief kicked around in the sports world: It’s hard to beat a team three times in one season. Amador Valley will have to do just that, after two wins in EBAL action over the Wolves. Again, it will come down to which team shows up for San Ramon Valley. If they’re on, they can play with anybody. If they lose focus, well, good luck and we’ll see you next year.

Las Lomas d. Maria Carillo: I’m not sure how improved Maria Carillo is from the beginning of the season when they had an average showing at the Deer Valley tournament after many had predicted the Pumas would make the final. But with the Knights statement win over Sonoma Valley, Maria Carillo is now put on notice. In fact, some could argue that this match should be in Walnut Creek because the Knights could’ve been and should’ve been the No.1 seed. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and there’s no time for WouldaCouldaShoulda’s now. One thing working against the Knights: They have to travel up the 101 and play in Maria Carrillo’s home gym.

Read the rest of this entry »

From a Cal press release:

California volleyball head coach Rich Feller announced the singing of two recruits to National Letters of Intent for 2008. Outside hitter Tarah Murrey (El Cerrito, Calif./Saint Mary’s HS) and middle blocker Shannon Hawari (Plano, Texas/Plano West HS) will join the Golden Bears for the 2008 season.

“We’re very excited about our two new additions,” Feller said, “We feel that we’ve signed two very exciting and promising players and even though the numbers are small, the excitement around the program is definitely big.”

A Prep Volleyball Dream Team member in 2006 and a 2006 Top Junior Recruit, Murrey is largely considered one of the top volleyball recruits in the country. Standing at 6-3, the outside hitter comes from a family rich in athletic tradition. Her father Doug Murrey played basketball at San Jose State while her mother Barb Murrey played volleyball at San Jose State. Murrey’s older sister Britney is on the volleyball team at UC Riverside.

Murrey was a member of the USA Youth National Team in 2006, where she was named MVP of the Norceca World Championship and received the Best Spiker and Best Scorer awards.

“We feel really good about keeping a hometown girl at home in Berkeley,” said Feller. “Bringing in someone with her skills and international experience is just great. Tarah brings an all-around game to the table. She is an outside hitter with great defensive skills, as well as great attacking and blocking skills. For someone of her size, she has remarkable mobility and is extremely athletic.”

It’s come down to the best teams battling it out in the playoffs. I’m on the fence on some of these but, for better or worse, here are some predictions:

Amador Valley vs. Monte Vista: Its hard to pick a winner here because I don’t want to pick against any of these teams right now. The Dons are motivated to avenge their only loss to a Division I opponent (Monte Vista) and the Mustangs are streaking, probably the scariest team in the playoffs. The way Monte Vista took out Foothill was big, but now they’ll have to deal with Sophia Dunworth and company. But if I absolutely must, I’m going with the hot team in Monte Vista.

Deer Valley d. San Ramon Valley: This is another tough one. Of course, what else should I expect when the semifinals come around. These two teams haven’t met this sesaon, but they have common opponents in Foothill and Monte Vista, both of which beat the Wolves. Deer Valley has wins over Monte Vista and Foothill so I’m going to go with Deer Valley. I think SRV has the fire power (Lauren Claybaugh) too take out the Wolverines since DV struggles with containg big-hitting teams. But they also play defense and what’s that saying: Defense wins championships. Still, if the Wolves pull this out it won’t be an upset. I expect a five-gamer.

Las Lomas d. Sonoma Valley: Not sure why I have this strange feeling that Sonoma Valley will beat Las Lomas, especially after how they made quick work out of Carondelet. But the Knights have been underated all season long and I’m not sure what else they can do to garner a bit more respect (wins over Campo and Amador Valley are their cherries on top of a DFAL title) A win here will make beleivers out of many and with a core of Charlotte Brown, Morgan Borsch and TK Gordon, they’ll be ready to go.

Analy d. Albany: Talk about seedings meaning nothing in the playoffs, unless you’re a league champion. Despite beating St. Mary’s twice this season, the Cougars couldn’t do it in the BSAL championship match, failing to lock up the league championship, and that has come back to haunt them tonight. Albany will have to travel up the 101 to Sebastopol (near Santa Rosa) and play the Tigers, who are the NCS DIII defending champs. They were also in the NorCal final last season, losing to Campolindo for chance at the state championship game. Analy has lost a few players but they’re still good and they’ll be at home. Throw in a long bus ride and it seems the Cougars are already down and out.

Bishop O’Dowd d. Campolindo: The Campolindo “Cubs” as I referred to earlier this year have come along way, but a loss to Miramonte in league play in the final week of the DFAL season tells me that this team is still too inexpereince to win in the Dragons’ Layer. Have you been to BOD’s gym? The place is like something out of Hoosiers. A small cramped space with a lot of character. But what the Cougars should be worried about is Blaire Safir and Robyn Hall, two outstanding players who I think will help lead this team to the NCS championship.

St. Mary’s d. El Molino: I can’t bet against Tarah Murrey. Seen her carry this team to heights it couldn’t imagine. So I won’t do it here. But contrary to popular belief, she’s not Superwoman, so this run will end the minute she has an off game. This is not a shot at her teammates who play very hard, but the Panthers will go as far as Murrey carries them. El Molino might have something to say about it.

Justin Siena d. Salesian: The Pride is extending their great season as long as they can, but I think Justin Siena has been one of the better teams in the Division the last few seasons are are primed to get back NCS championship match. But Salesian, St. Mary’s and Albany are representing the BSAL well. Only the EBAL, considered the strongest league in the area, has as many teams playing in a semifinal tonight.

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

Not exactly going out on any limbs here, but check out these predictions and thoughts on some of Tuesday’s matches:

DIVISION I

No. 5 Foothill over No. 12 Antioch: Look for Brittany Cervantes to have a nice match for the Panthers, but I’m sorry, an 11-21 record going up against the Falcons, the defending Division I state finalists, won’t cut it. Antioch took advantage of having a winning league record (9-7) to qualify for the tournament and have been competitive this season but Foothill will win in three and uses the match as a warm-up for Monte Vista in the quarterfinals. Even with Betsy Sedlak out, the Falcons should give the No. 4 seeded Mustangs all they can handle and could pull out the win.

No. 9 Liberty over No. 8 Berkeley: This is a tough one. If there ever was a time for Berkeley to upset a traditionally strong program, it is right now. It’s safe to say that Liberty has had a down year and enter the playoffs limping, but they gave Carondelet a run for their money during league play which shows they have enough to take out the Yellow Jackets. Berkeley, however, won its umpteenth league title and is motivated. For the Yellow Jackets, this match is their championship, and they will play like it. Either way, the winner loses to No. 1 Amador Valley in the next round.

No. 7 Washington over No. 10 James Logan: At the seeding meeting on Sunday, Logan coach Danielle Anderson asked for the 10th seed. The committee obliged but when she saw it would mean another match against the Huskies, their MVAL-foe and league champ, she tried to interject. But the committee quickly nipped that in the bud, telling her what Diddy told Laurie Ann in Making the Band 4: “I ain’t takin’ no interjections.” So welcome the open seeding format, where it would be nice to get in and play someone outside your league but doesn’t necessarily always happen. Washington wins and faces Deer Valley, which is a very scary match-up for the Wolverines.

No. 6 San Ramon Valley over No. 11 San Leandro: San Leandro is taking baby steps. Last season the Pirates asked for the 12th seed and got it. Now they wanted the 11th seed and got that too. But what they also get is a first round match with San Ramon Valley. Good Luck. The Wolves are a team similar to Washington in that no one really wants to see them in the playoffs. They are sneaky because depending on what team shows up, they can be extremely good. No. 3 Castro Valley will find that out in the quarterfinals, although the match should be very competitive.

DIVISION II

Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to all for another stellar girls volleyball regular season, but the playoffs are here so don’t worry, its not over yet.

Of course some special shout outs are in order for a few teams.

We start off with Las Lomas who won the DFAL title last night with a win over Alhambra. The Knights got a little help from Miramonte, who beat Campolindo in four. With the Cougars loss, the Knights become the first team to win the league title outright, other than the Cougars, since it was re-formed in 2000. Northgate shared the title with Campolindo in 2004.

Berkeley also continued its reign atop the ACCAL and won yet another league title.

The YellowJackets have won the league championship every year since 2000.

But perhaps one of the more extraordinary runs to close out the season comes from Monte Vista, who went 6-0 in the second half of EBAL play — which is equivalent to walking through a swarm of bees without getting stung — with three-straight wins over Amador Valley, Foothill and San Ramon Valley to finish the regular season, the Mustangs redeemed themselves after going 0-3 against the same three teams in the first half of league play.

“We’re playing better defense and our serving has been consistent,” Mustangs coach Prima Elam said. “We’ve always been big hitters, we’re just able to mix it up on offense now. It’s been defense and consistent serving. We’ve tighten up our game.”

According to Elam, the Mustangs hadn’t beaten the Wolves in league play in at least five years and became the only Division I team to beat Amador Valley this season to take over sole possession of second place in EBAL. They could be the hottest team entering the playoffs and they’re doing it at full strength. Senior outside hitter Kenzie Haygood returned last night – only fitting it was on senior night – after suffering a lateral meniscus tear in her right knee three weeks ago. The Mustangs kill leader had surgery 10 days ago and now somehow is back in action. With Gabby Cowden and Juliana Oldroyd getting it done at the net and Chelsea Rashoff serving it up, the Mustangs are looking for a little respect come playoff time.

“We’ve always been the under dogs, everybody over looks us,” Elam said. “We don’t have a chip on our shoulders, we know what we need to do.”

Other happenings: Deer Valley looks to avenge a loss to Carondelet tonight at 6:30 at home when the BVAL championship is up for grabs. The Cougars swept the Wolverines in the first meeting on Oct. 9. Don’t think it will be that easy this time around. The Cougars are searching for the first title since 2004 and the Wolverines hope to win its second in as many years.

Albany will be in the post season but Saturday’s BSAL championship game against St. Mary’s will decide whether or not the Cougars get the league’s automatic bid. The Panthers, led by Cal-bound Tarah Murrey, have won this match against the Cougars the last three years, so Albany enters with lots of motivation.

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

EAST BAY COACHES GIRLS VOLLEYBALL POLL (9)
(Consensus comment for all: Playoff time, show us whatcha got)

1) Bishop O’Dowd
2) Amador Valley
3) Deer Valley
4) Carondelet
5) Castro Valley
6) Foothill
7) Albany Monte Vista
9) San Ramon Valley
10) Las Lomas

Other recieving votes — Washington, Campolindo, Berkeley

Just call me Dragon Slayer, because I apparently don’t give the Dragons of Bishop O’Dowd enough love on the blogosphere.

So the Bishop O’Dowd faithful came out of nowhere last week and blasted me for vaguely mentioning the Dragons in a recent post after they won the Northgate Tournament.

BOD is not in our coverage area, so I tend to stay away from the Dragons unless they venture into this side of town and play one of our coverage area teams and that’s exactly what happened last Saturday when BOD beat Deer Valley in three games for the championship.

(Of course, I also steer clear of Dragons because that fire breathing business is bad for my health)

Say hello to Bishop O’Dowd, the new No. 1 team in the poll and first No. 1 team other than Amador Valley since Week 1.

The first thing I noticed about the Dragons was this: Robyn Hall can probably jump OVER the net if she wanted to. The girl has springs for legs and just pounds the ball. BOD coach Tim Newman said he didn’t set her as much that day as he would’ve liked to and that’s scary. But BOD did just fine as strong performances from Blaire Safir, Rachel Stier and Natalia Wagner carried them through. It’s easy to see why the Dragons reign supreme atop of the poll and why they will probably enter as the top seed in the Division III when North Coast Section playoffs start after next week.

Amador Valley’s loss to Las Lomas at the tournament didn’t hurt the Dons as much, dropping them one spot to No. 2 while Carondelet slides down two spots to No. 4 after its loss to Castro Valley in a extremely tight match at the NG tournament.

Coaches may have casted their votes before the following matches took place…

San Ramon Valley knocked off Foothill on Tuesday, which isn’t a complete surprise. It’s the way the Wolves did it (in 3-games) that’s the shocker. Same goes for Albany beating Carondelet on Halloween 25-16, 25-20, 25-18. Again, the scores not the result raises eye-brows. Now Monte Vista, led by Gabby Cowden and Chelsea Rashoff, beats Amador Valley 16-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-17 on Thursday night. The Mustangs finally catch a break and get a key win against a Division I opponent. The Mustangs could potentially finish the season with wins against Foothill and San Ramon Valley. Ah, the wackiness continues as these results should go toward determining next week’s poll.

I’ll leave you with this story from Campolindo coach Scott Bishop.

Outside of Las Lomas beating AV, the talk at the Northgate Tournament was how Campolindo’s middle blocker Alex Shurtz fell and hit her head on the floor during a match. She received over 20 stitches for splitting her forehead right above her left eye. Well, Bishop said fiery setter Mary Vaccaro was in on the collision as Shurtz fell head first to the ground during a pool play match. Vaccaro yelled at Shurtz to “GET UP NOW” because the play was ongoing. Shurtz somehow jumped right up and finished out the rally. It wasn’t until play completely stopped that everyone realized Shurtz was hurt and there was blood everywhere.

Who says volleyball players aren’t tough?

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

EAST BAY COACHES VOLLEYBALL POLL (8)

1) Bishop O’Dowd – (wins Northgate Tournament)
2) Amador Valley – (loss to Las Lomas is tough)
3) Deer Valley – (beats Monte Vista and Castro Valley at NG tourney before falling to BOD in final)
4) Carondelet - (loses tight one to Castro Valley in quarters)
5) Castro Valley – (big win over Carondelet but loses to DV in semis)
6) Foothill – (Presentation too tough in SRV tourney final)
7) Albany – (can’t get past BOD in NG quarterfinal match up) Las Lomas – (gets big win over AV)
9) Monte Vista – (falls short against DV)
10) San Ramon Valley – (comes in 3rd at own tournament)

Others receiving votes: Washington, Campolindo, Berkeley