The season came to a crashing halt for the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High girls volleyball team Wednesday night after a 25-21, 25-19, 25-21 loss to host Marin Catholic in the North Coast Section Division IV semifinals.
The loss left the Lady Bruins (24-17) one win short of their third straight appearance in the NCS championship match and a win short of a berth into the Northern California Tournament.
“A lot of people didn’t think we’d go this far and we all worked so hard to get here,” said SPSV senior Julia Kistner, who had 11 digs and four assists. “It’s sad knowing it’s our last game together.”
Marin Catholic (23-9), the top seed in this year’s Division IV tournament, was knocked out of the NCS semifinals last year by the Lady Bruins and was out for revenge. Senior setter Julia Malet suffered a finger injury in the opening set but played on and did an excellent job spreading the offense around, finishing with 33 assists while adding four kills. Middle hitters Grace Flynn-Young and Grace Trocki combined for 12 kills as the Lady Wildcats advanced to the title match at home Saturday night against Healdsburg.
“They had some really strong outside hitters and were a good team,” Kistner said of Marin Catholic. “They were smart with the ball.”
Malia Bolko had 10 kills and 13 digs for the No. 4 seeded Lady Bruins. Taylor Castro had six kills and two blocks, and teammate Halle Webster added five kills and three blocks.
Other contributors for SPSV included Kristina Manuel (two aces, 10 assists, 15 digs), Nikki Lumauod (four kills, 10 digs) and Isabel Villalobos (four kills).
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