Sobrato volleyball in 2024 dealt with graduations of last year’s seniors, a challenging non-conference schedule and loaded league competition. The Bulldogs nonetheless extended their playoff streak to five consecutive non-Covid years, and notched a postseason victory for only the second time in that span, matching last year’s team.
Coach Daniel Clifton’s charges entered the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs as a 10-seed but swept 7-seed Hill on the road in the post-season opener. In that contest, Sobrato rolled 25-18, 25-15, 25-22 behind Juliana Tindall’s 14 kills and four aces.
The Bulldogs lost their subsequent match to Valley Christian of the powerful West Catholic Athletic League.
“We played in a pretty tough league (the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s top division, the Mt. Hamilton),” said Clifton, after the victory. “Branham is a powerhouse, Leigh is a powerhouse, Westmont is very good. Our league took a whole step forward.
“We took Westmont to five sets, Pioneer to five, we split with Christopher. That helped us prepare for this and set us up for success.”
In 2024, Tindall moved from the middle to the outside and led Sobrato with 305 kills—third in league—along with a superb .411 attack percentage.
Sophomore Olivia Scatena stepped up to the challenge to fortify the outside offense, delivering 175 kills.
Melodee Glover dominated in the middle, delivering 106 kills with a .431 percentage and an amazing 113 blocks. That block total led the league and ranked 24th in the state of California, according to Maxpreps stats.
Additional offense came from Orin Barua with 89 kills. Depth was crucial to Sobrato’s success with Ashlyn Wilson and Olivia Davis contributing at the pins, mostly on the right side, and junior Mika Forbes shining in the middle, as a double dynamite combo with Glover.
Bouton and Jordan McCarthy-Scettrini each sparkled at the setter position. Bouton passed for 310 assists and McCarthy-Scettrini dished off 311.
Many players contributed on defense. Mia Penrod had time at libero and later in the year it was sophomore Ashley Nguyen wearing the opposite-color jersey for that position. Violette Angeles added value on both defense and offense.
Tindall illustrated athleticism as a six-rotation player, leading Sobrato with 190 digs and 516 serve receives. Scatena made a similar contribution, with 162 digs and 390 serve receives. That backline work by outside hitters is crucial to complementing a libero and a defensive specialist.
“Our goal is to bring the younger players along,” said Bouton, in the middle of the season. “Our big goal is to make it to CCS. Our goal every year is to make CCS.”
Goal fulfilled. On the sunny Saturday of Nov. 2, the Bulldogs traveled to San Jose to meet Hill, a 21-13 team from the BVAL Santa Teresa East Division. Sobrato won in a sweep.
“Over the course of three sets, we got more creative with our shots,” Clifton said. “We had line shots open. And we capitalized on free balls.”
Sobrato jumped out on top in the first set but the Falcons fought back. With the tally at 16-15, the Bulldogs dug deep with an 8-2 run to take over. In that surge, Scatena and McCarthy-Scettrini each served an ace, Tindall walloped a cross-court kill and a power blast down the seam, and Forbes excelled with back-to-back kills from the middle.
Sobrato grabbed control of the match in the second set with a mid-set 9-1 run. The roll featured kills from Barua, Scatena and Glover, a Scatena ace and a Wilson block. Later, Forbes provided a brick wall to Hill with two fierce blocks to close the set.
The Falcons fought back early in the third set but once again, Sobrato reclaimed the upper hand. A mid-set 10-2 blitz made the difference. Tindall was unstoppable, and Bouton and McCarthy-Scettrini found the two middles to diversify the point of attack and the defense really shined.
“Our serving was really good,” Tindall said. “We played good out of system and won the long rallies.”
The Bulldogs emphasized aggressive serving, which can keep opponents out of system. That approach can result not only in aces but also free ball returns which set one up for a high-percentage attack.
“They served very strong,” Hill coach Matt Sandora said. “They got great hits from number five (Tindall). She is an amazing player. Overall, they were more consistent. They are a very good team.”
That was part of the Sobrato approach all year. Scatena led Sobrato for the season with 47 aces, Glover added 35 and Bouton, even with a limited number of games due to an early-season injury, contributed 35.
Scatena referenced the additional wisdom, maturity and experience shown by Sobrato on the day.
“We did a great job of being in position,” Scatena said. “We were smart about where we were on the court. And we limited our errors.”
In the CCS quarterfinal three days later, Sobrato gave Valley Christian quite a battle for most of the evening up in San Jose.
Two of the three sets were very even, as the first went to the Warriors 25-20 and the third was 26-24. Valley Christian was hardened from play in the WCAL, the strongest league in northern California. In 2024, both CCS Open Division finalists St. Francis and St. Ignatius were from the WCAL and the subsequent NorCal finalists were also WCAL teams, St. Francis and Archbishop Mitty.
Sobrato’s overall season record of 11-17 reflected the challenging slate. Yet it toughened the team up, as they were rewarded in the playoffs.
“We realized we do well when we play together and our skills come together,” Glover said. “We were given a second chance season with the playoffs and we took advantage of it.”
