ORANGE >> Archbishop Mitty hung in with Cathedral Catholic-San Diego in Saturday’s night CIF Open Division state championship match.

But in each set, the Southern California champion had too much firepower and too much defense as the Dons swept the Monarchs 25-21, 25-20, 25-16 at Santiago Canyon College.

Junior Makenna Crosson led Mitty with 13 kills and freshman Chayse Courtney contributed 11 kills. Senior setter Kacie Caoili dished 29 assists. Libero Nicole Macalintal paced the defense with nine digs and 33 serve receives.

Cathedral Catholic (46-3) was paced by Mae Kordas, who delivered 18 kills with a .457 attack percentage from both the outside and the middle.

“It hurts,” said Mitty coach Jon Wallace, whose team finished 29-7. “It should sting a bit. They (Cathedral Catholic) played really well. Number 12 (Kordas) is really good and puts a lot of pressure on a team. We did a good job in our region and area. We won nine straight sets, but it’s a different animal here.”

After six straight CIF state titles from 2012-2017, Mitty had a short drought but has now appeared in three of the past four Open Division title matches as the NorCal champ. Although Cathedral Catholic did not have the generational talent of its 2022 team, the 2024 squad had quietly reeled off 22 straight wins and lost only three sets since Sept. 21.

The Dons, ranked No. 7 nationally by MaxPreps, hit .330 as a team.

Division II

San Ramon Valley 3, Centennial-Bakersfield 1 >> The Wolves won their first state title in their first appearance, catching fire after the opening set to beat the Golden Hawks 22-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-23.

San Ramon Valley (31-9) was led by Lucy Chertock with 19 kills and Ellie Hunt with 16 kills. Kate Stern passed for 42 assists and libero Ali Cook had 10 digs and 32 serve receives.

Centennial (30-11) was paced by Ila Rose with 15 kills and Jordan Kennedy with 12.

In the second set, the Wolves hit for a .519 attack percentage, headlined by Chertock’s amazing nine kills and no errors in 10 attacks.

“The big thing was with Hope (Diekmann) serving, we would get them out of system,” Chertock said. “And Kate Stern was giving me these ‘dime’ sets.”

Later, Stern spread the attack beyond Chertock and Ellie Hunt to Sophia Vella and Jenna Hunt and also put down five kills herself.

Division III

Central Valley Christian-Visalia 3, Monta Vista 0 >> A superb playoff run by Monta Vista featured seven straight wins, while dropping just three sets.

The Central Coast Section Division II title and the NorCal D-III title brought the Matadors to the school’s first team appearance at a state finals in any sport since 1969. But the Cavaliers from Visalia were too strong on the attack and at the net as CVC won 25-15, 25-22, 26-24.

Monta Vista (29-7) was led by UC Santa Cruz-bound Kiana Mark with 15 kills and younger sister Kylee Mark with seven.

The Cavaliers (46-3) were led by Lola Highstreet with 10 kills with Ally Lane getting nine.