Last year's state women's volleyball finalists Feather River, Fresno City win regional finals
Defending state champion Feather River College and 2024 runner-up Fresno City are two of the eight teams that won their regional finals on Saturday, setting up the 2025 3C2A State Women's Volleyball Championship tourney next week (Dec. 5-7) at Folsom Lake College.
The #3 seed Golden Eagles, ranked #1 on the final regular season CCCWVCA State Top 25, and the #5 Rams are joined from the North by #1 San Joaquin Delta and #2 Taft.
In the South, three teams are returning from the '24 tourney in #1 San Diego Mesa, #2 Los Angeles Mission, and #14 Long Beach City, which was the only team from Round 1 to make it all the way through with three playoff victories. Those three squads are joined by #5 Santa Monica, making just its first appearance at the Elite Eight in 31 years.
None of the eight regional finals went past four sets with four sweeps and four going to four sets
Here is the state tourney bracket, beginning with Friday, Dec. 5 quarterfinals, the first match 10 a.m.
Here are recaps of the eight regional finals (note as of press time, some teams were gathering statistical information which will be added by Sunday):
ROUND 3 REGIONAL FINALS
NORTH
No. 1 San Joaquin Delta 3, #8 Cabrillo 0, 25-17, 25-18, 25-17: The Mustangs (29-1), ranked #3 on that last poll, earned the top North seed via RPI and dominated the Seahawks (22-6) in a resounding sweep. Delta stretched its win streak to 21 and will make its North Region-leading 20th appearance at state, 13 in this century. Leading the charge for Delta were Emily Yarborough with 11 kills (hit .588 in 17 swings) and four blocks, Catherine Frias defending 15 digs, serving six aces and rating a 2.69 on serve receive, Hadlee Gray picking up a double-double on 10 kills, 11 digs plus three blocks, and Paige Taylor dishing out 33 assists with two aces.
No. 2 Taft 3, No. 7 Sequoias 0, 25-22, 25-22, 25-13: The Cougars (30-2) are making just their second appearance ever at the state tourney (last getting there in 2004) as they extended their win streak to 21 matches with the sweep over the Giants (24-10). The matchup between Central Valley Conference South Division champion Taft and second place COS was the third time that the Cougars swept Sequoias. In the opening set, COS nearly tied it late but at the end of a wild, long rally, a rifle attack by Faizia Mamea was somehow returned in a self-defense dig by Vienna Perier as the ball ricocheted back over the net for a point. Perier then landed a set-point kill at 25-22 for a 1-0 Cougars lead. In the second set, the Giants tied it at 22-22 on a backline kill by Trinity Tavea. However, the Cougars responded with a kill by Shylah Pulu-Valdez, then another kill down the sideline by Jazzahlei Satele for set point and a 2-0 advantage. Taft went on to take control in the third and put the victory away. Perier finished with a triple-double on 13 kills (.346), 11 digs, and 18 assists, Satele scored 10 kills and 14 digs, Jazlyn Juarez 10 kills (.400) and two blocks, Amber Makainai totaled 10 digs and 16 assists, and Shyanne Yamada made 14 digs.
No. 3 Feather River 3, No. 6 San Mateo 1, 25-27, 25-11, 25-17, 25-20: The Golden Eagles (34-1) collected their 15th straight victory but had to rally with three strong winning sets after dropping the first one to the Bulldogs (23-6) in extra points. FRC had set point at 24-23 before CSM fought back with a 4-1 run to take the initial lead. FRC had a bevy of solid performances including 22 kills and 13 digs by Carol Manu, 18 kills, 10 digs and two aces from Chloe Albiez, 47 assists from Teya Gibbs, six kills and four blocks by Tiare Faupula, five blocks by Madison Millanes, and 19 digs totaled by Peyton Estes. San Mateo had its 15-match win streak snapped but were paced by 12 kills from Juliana Mufarreh, 11 kills and 12 digs by Madison Williams, 15 digs by Kat Suayan, and 32 assists set by Alyssa Polanco.
No. 5 Fresno City 3, No. 4 Monterey Peninsula 1, 19-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-23: The Rams (26-5) rebounded after a 6-point loss in set #1, then took control to end the Lobos (22-3) 12-match win streak in four sets. For FCC now on a 7-match win streak, Kalani Soares made a triple-double on 16 kills, 17 assists, and 16 digs while serving two aces, Karina Rodriguez powered 18 kills with 12 digs and Haiden Davis added 12 kills. For MPC, Kayla Smith landed 15 kills, Elizabeth Irvin had 12 kills, Anna Eldridge tallied 22 digs, and the setting pair of Lacey Manzano and Kaitlin Smith each had 12 assists.
SOUTH
No. 1 San Diego Mesa 3, No. 8 San Diego Miramar 0, 25-23, 25-14, 25-14: The Olympians (29-1) have the state's current longest win streak at 26 matches in sweeping their Pacific Coast Athletic Conference foe Jets (23-8) for the third time this season. Mesa was led by Mia Lundberg with 17 kills and Ruby Ennis, who had five kills, distributed 34 assists, made eight digs and had two blocks. Bella Town added seven kills, Isabella Barrios had five kills and two blocks while Eva Luna made four kills and 10 digs. For Miramar which had a breakout season, Madelyn Wutzke hit 12 kills (.360) and Makena Kowalski reached the 1,000 assists mark with 25.
No. 2 Los Angeles Mission 3, No. 7 Mt. San Antonio 1, 25-16, 27-29, 25-16, 25-12: The Eagles (26-4) are making their second straight trip to the state tourney, defeating the Mounties (22-6) in four sets. After winning the opening set, Mt. SAC outlasted LAM deep into extra points behind kills by Sydney Valentine and Emma Carson that knotted it at 1-1. However, LA Mission took back the momentum with a 9-point win in set #3 capped by a kill by Madision "Maddie" Perry. In the fourth, Mission ran away by taking an 18-7 lead capped by a kill and ace by Tawnie Ohrt. Mt. SAC never recovered as LA Mission punched its ticket to state. Ohrt scored 17 kills overall followed by 15 from Perry, and 14 by Amya Cheatham January (hit .478). Rio Sandaiji contributed 44 assists, 12 digs and four blocks and Sofia Vazquez had 21 digs while serving five aces. Mt. SAC never recovered as LA Mission punched its ticket to state.
No. 5 Santa Monica 3, No. 13 Golden West 0, 25-12, 25-21, 26-24: The Corsairs (26-4) won their 17th consecutive match in sweeping the Rustlers (19-5). After jumping out to a 2-0 sets lead, Golden West made a push and took a 22-18 lead in the third set. GWC made it set point at 24-23 on a kill by Meghan Freck. But after a timeout, Santa Monica responded with a kill by Nadene Taase, then a combined block by Nicole Lankton and Mia Whitlock. Lankton then drilled a kill through the center of the Golden West defense to complete the rally and cap the sweep. Lankton recorded 13 kills (.375) and seven blocks while Whitlock scored eight kills, four blocks, two aces and nine digs. SMC will go to the state dance for the first time since 1994.
No. 14 Long Beach City 3, No. 10 Palomar 1, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-13: The Vikings (19-9) make their second straight trip to state, rallying from a set down to win a battle of lower seeds in four over the Comets (19-8). Palomar used an overpass kill by Janice Garcia for set point to take a 1-0 lead. LBCC overcame a 20-17 Palomar lead in the second set, pulling away on a solo block by Ryleeh Tuaolo, then a kill by Kyla Jones to tie it at 1-1. In the third, Tuaolo and Jones scored back-to-back kills at 22-21 to eventually take a 2-1 sets lead. In the fourth, Long Beach jumped out to a 9-1 lead capped by a Jones kill and never looked back. Long Beach is 17-1 in its last 18 contests and make the state tourney after losing its first six matches of 2025 and being 2-8 at one point. The Comets were paced by Reese Maffit with 15 kills and Caden Pinto's 31 digs. Palomar made it only once to the state tourney in 1979.
Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWVCA SID