SAN JOSE – When Amiya Kuchibhotla spiked the ball and made the final point, the Archbishop Mitty gymnasium erupted as the 3-1 NorCal Open Division victory went final.
The senior middle hitter became one of many Monarchs mobbed together in the center of the court, the team having vanquished St. Francis for the final time in 2023, the last of six meetings between the elite volleyball programs.
The San Jose school denied St. Francis back-to-back NorCal Open titles, gave Mitty two of the past three and put another championship banner in its crowded rafters.
The Monarch’s next stop? A trip to Santiago Canyon College in Orange County for the state Open Division championship game.
“I’m so happy and so grateful, especially since it’s my senior year,” Kuchibhotla said. “I’m super-excited.”
Archbishop Mitty won the first set 25-12, scoring the final five points behind a flurry of emphatic kills and aces. Sophomore Makenna Crosson had five kills, one ace and a block in that dominant set.
“We wanted to find our rhythm, and we wanted to make sure St. Francis would know that we weren’t going down without a fight,” Crosson said.
The next set was much more competitive, with St. Francis coming back from an early 3-0 deficit (all three points scored on Katelyn Cook kills) and eventually taking a 20-18 lead. But Mitty’s hitting combo of Crosson and Isabella Romero had three kills each after that to give the San Jose school a 2-0 lead.
“We knew they were going to have a response, and they did,” Mitty coach Jon Wallace said.
That good run of form continued in the third set, where St. Francis went on a 4-0 run keyed by outside hitter Taylor Williams and middle hitter Ella Fulton to go up 12-8. Erin Curtis and libero Whitney Wallace, Jon’s daughter, also played well in the 25-19 win with the season on the line.
“You know, win or lose, we still battled.” St. Francis coach Lake Merchen said. “They’re still one of the best teams in the state, and you know, if that’s not something to be proud of, I don’t know what is.”
The fourth and final set featured a number of rallies and great blocking, serving and hitting. Mitty led 16-11 at one point, but St. Francis scored four consecutive points to cut the lead to 16-15. From there, MItty kept St. Francis at bay to win the final set 25-20.
Standing in between Mitty and its first state title since 2017 is Mater Dei-Santa Ana. The 42-2 team from Orange County defeated defending Open Division state champions Cathedral Catholic-San Diego 3-1 in the SoCal final.
Wallace said his Monarchs saw Mater Dei play at a tournament earlier this season, and knows claiming a state crown will be a tall task.
“We know what it’s going to take,” Wallace said. “We’ve gotten pushed to our limits (this season), so hopefully we’ll show up and do well down there.”
