Clovis West upsets Clovis North to reach section girls volleyball championship
The third time was the charm for the Clovis West High girls volleyball team against Clovis North.
Fourth-seeded Clovis West upset the top-seeded Broncos in four sets Thursday night to advance to Saturday’s Central Section championships at College of the Sequoias.
The scores Thursday at Clovis North were 22-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-22.
“They played so well as a team,” Clovis West coach Rhonda DeRuiter said. “Everything went according to plan and they recovered so perfectly as a team. They’ve been resilient all season and demonstrated that” Thursday night.
Leading the way for Clovis West was Morgan Hébert who finished with 16 kills, 17 assists and nine digs.
Clovis North had swept the Golden Eagles in Tri-River Athletic Conference play, beating them in four sets in each meeting. That was part of the Broncos’ 10-0 run through the TRAC. They are 39-4 overall now and awaiting word of a berth in the CIF state playoffs. Regional pairings will be announced Sunday.
Clovis West has business before it learns its regional fate. The Golden Eagles (27-10) meet No. 2 Liberty-Bakersfield in a scheduled 6 p.m. match Saturday in Visalia, the last of five championship matches in the COS gym on Woodland Street just south of Noble Avenue.
Clovis West, which tied Clovis for second in the TRAC at 6-4, is back in the section final for the first time since 2016 when it lost to Liberty. The Golden Eagles’ last section title came in 2013.
“We’re not worried about the big picture,” DeRuiter said. “We’re playing good volleyball as a team and we’ve worked really hard as a team and that’s been the theme all season.”
The Golden Eagles weren’t the only team to score a semifinal upset Thursday night. Fourth-seeded Bakersfield Christian handed Redwood its first loss of the season to advance in Division II, and No. 3 Kerman traveled to the Grapevine to knock off Frazier Mountain.
CIF Central Section Championships
Saturday at College of the Sequoias
DIVISION I: No. 4 Clovis West vs. No. 2 Liberty-Bakersfield, 6 p.m.
DIVISION II: No. 4 Bakersfield Christian vs. No. 3 Stockdale, 4 p.m.
DIVISION III: No. 2 Righetti vs. No. 1 San Joaquin Memorial, 2 p.m.
DIVISION IV: No. 2 Kingsburg vs. No. 1 Sierra Pacific, 10 a.m.
DIVISION V: No. 3 Kerman vs. No. 1 Mammoth, noon
Anthony Galaviz: 559-441-6042, agalaviz_TheBee
This story was originally published November 8, 2019 at 8:31 AM.
