As the tournament’s number three seed and defending 2013 champion, it wasn’t unexpected that the Homestead Mustangs advanced to the Central Coast Section Division I girls volleyball semi-finals last week by beating the sixth-seeded Palo Alto Vikings. What was unexpected, however, was the team the Mustangs will face Wednesday night for the right to play for the 2014 Section championship.
While the Mustangs were disposing of Palo Alto in four sets, the opponent they expected to face in the next round, the second-seeded Salinas Cowboys were being stunned by the seventh-seeded Carlmont Scots in straight sets.
The Mustangs, who raised their overall record to 23-13 with their win over Paly, will take on the 19-16 Scots Wednesday evening (7:30 p.m.) at Piedmont Hills high school with the winner advancing to Saturday night’s championship game at Independence high.
The other Division I semi match will feature No. 1Menlo-Atherton against No. 4 San Benito.
In addition to trying to repeat as Section champions, the Mustangs are also bidding to make their third consecutive finals appearance. In 2012, they lost in the finals to Menlo-Atherton 22-25, 22-25, 20-25. However, last year they captured the Section crown by defeating Palo Alto 17-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-19.
Homestead, the runner-up in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division to Los Altos, split the first two sets in its match with Palo Alto, winning the first 25-21, but dropping the second 19-25. The Mustangs then closed out the win by taking the next two sets 25-23, 25-21.
The victory was the Mustangs’ third of the season over the Vikings in as many meetings, having swept them in straight sets twice during the SCVAL season.
Prior to upsetting Salinas, Carlmont opened tournament play with a 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 win over 10th-seeded Monta Vista. The Matadors, who finished last in the De Anza Division with a record of 0-12, ended the year 11-20.
