Girls volleyball: Branson takes first loss of season

By Shun Graves

IJ correspondent

PLEASANTON >> Despite an eight-point run during the third set, the Branson School girls volleyball team fell to Foothill High in three treacherous sets Tuesday night.

Foothill, which qualified for the NorCal Open Division bracket last year, overwhelmed Branson, the Division I champion, in three sets, 27-25, 25-15, 25-18. Defensive errors kept the scoreboard low for the Bulls after a tight first set.

“We choked,” Branson coach Michelle Brazil said.

Branson struggled to repel non-league Foothill’s attacks — the Pleasanton team’s top hitter notched nearly two dozen kills — and faced a well-covered Foothill defense.

Nonetheless, the Bulls fought to a 25-25 tie late in the first set on the heels of errors by Foothill and an ace by Branson libero Dylan Whisenant.

Yet Foothill pulled ahead by two points, and Branson never commanded the scoreboard again. Foothill thundered several spikes toward the hardwood while the Bulls’ outside hitter Elena Fisher remained largely sidelined due to an injury.

“We’re hitting the ground running with a group that was together for the most part last year,” Foothill coach Dusty Collins said. “That starting six is very similar to what we had last year.”

Foothill outside hitter Paige Bennett pounded in several kills during the second set. Branson’s Sadie Snipes and Logan Tusher made some well-placed tips, but Foothill’s offense maintained its lead going into the third set.

With the scoreboard standing at 19-7, the Bulls suddenly made an eight-point run after Foothill committed serve and attack errors. Foothill’s lead narrowed to four points at one point, but Bennett and Foothill’s offense forced some more defensive errors to close the set with a comfortable lead.

Compared to Branson, Foothill’s serve-receive was “really locked in today,” Collins said. “Our serve-receive — the way we were receiving serves — was, I thought, better than theirs throughout the night. That put us in those situations where we got to be a little more offensive-minded.”

Branson couldn’t quite defend some parts of its hardwood, leaving the Bulls with their first defeat since the four-set closer of the MCAL regular season against Redwood last October. Branson will open its new MCAL season on Sept. 13 against Terra Linda.

Foothill’s Bennett counted 21 kills, Kaycie Burdick notched 11 kills and setter Katherine Salonga contributed 43 assists.