Boys Volleyball
Leigh 3, Bellarmine 2
Leigh defeated Bellarmine 25-20, 21-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-8 to win the CCS Division I title.
After losing 2-1, the coach Jeff Argabright said Cooper Smith, Liam Popejoy And Xace Leem “I went for it and knocked a lot of balls out of the system.”
Midfield Leigh Jeremy Choi And Connor Chiu then got blocks late in the fourth and fifth sets to help secure the CCS title for the Longhorns. Setter Eric Wu also had a fantastic match.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the guys,” Argabright said in an email to the Bay Area News Group.
Top-seeded Leigh defeated fellow Blossom Valley Athletic League side Evergreen Valley and Branham in the previous two rounds to reach the final. No. 2 Bellarmine beat Los Altos and Cupertino to set up the No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup.
Leigh improved to 26-7, while Bellarmine dropped to 17-18.
Christian Valley 3, Santa Cruz 1
The Warriors defeated Santa Cruz 21-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-19 to win the CCS Open Division championship.
Tyler Alden led the way with 19 kills, three blocks and two aces, while teammate Elan Taylor had 17 kills for Valley Christian. After making 10 digs in the semi-final win over Leigh, Andy Xu had 47 assists against Santa Cruz.
“We hesitated a few times, but we withstood the mental challenges of the nerves and excitement of the moment,” the VC coach said. Moni Tautu told BANG in an email. “I’m proud of the adjustments we made that worked in our favor.”
Seeded No. 3 in the upper bracket, Valley Christian beat Carlmont, then beat No. 2 St. Francis to reach the sectional title game.
The final pitted the Warriors against Santa Cruz for the fourth time this season, with Valley Christian winning only one of the first three. Valley Christian’s two wins against Santa Cruz are the Cardinals’ only losses of the season.
Valley Christian improved to 31-10 and Santa Cruz slipped to 38-2.
Monta Vista 3, Aragon 0
Monta Vista swept Aragon 25-16, 25-19, 25-19 as the Cupertino school captured the CCS Division II title, the program’s second sectional championship in three years.
Praneel Shah led the team with 36 assists, and Elie Kang And Henry Hu used these setups to combo for 25 kills.
Varchas Athreya had four solo blocks, and Rahul Pothenini had 10 digs for the Matadors.
“The team played one of our best all-around games of the year – serve, serve-receive and hitting,” coach Paul Chiu said BANG. “Probably one of our best blocking plays of the year.”
The top-seeded Matadors made it through the playoffs without losing a set, sweeping Burlingame and Carmel before eliminating Aragon. No. 2 Aragon easily defeated Saratoga in the quarterfinals before losing to Monterey 3-2 to advance to the championship.
Monta Vista improved to 19-13 and Aragon fell to 31-4.
Athletics
Two runners broke Taiwan Jones’ 16-year-old record in the 100 meters at the Tri-Valley North Coast Section meet on Saturday. The former NFL running back ran the event in 10.64 seconds in 2008.
The Acalanes bound for Princeton Paul Kuhner obliterated the old standard with a time of 10.36 to set the new record. Kuhner’s new time was also the fastest in California this year, beating Devin Bragg of Los Alamitos by 00.01. Of the room Jaden Jefferson ran it in 10.51 to also pass Jones.
Kuhner’s time tied Salesian Jahvid Best for second in NCS history. Robert Stitts of El Cerrito set the record at 10.31 last year.
“I always felt like I could go faster and I was finally able to do it today after 3 years of hard work,” Kuhner told the Bay Area News Group in a text Saturday. “It helps that I have such good competition in the area to push me to be the best.”
10.36🔥🔥 #1 IN CA and legal wind power, 2nd in the history of the NCS! @KTPrepElite @jak_rtz @coachEsko @Coach_Flinn @SVerbit pic.twitter.com/eZzTBQ3imx
-Paul Kuhner (@paul_kuhner) May 11, 2024
that of Pittsburg La’Rico Tezeno came third with a time of 10.62. The host Pirates earned victories in both the boys and girls 4X100 relays.
Kuhner also set the meet record in the 200 meters, running it in 21.56 seconds to surpass Chris Costa’s 23-year-old record of 21.58. Jefferson placed second and Kuhner’s teammate at the Acalanes Trevor Rogers was third.
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