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Nevada Union's path to an eighth consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section championship has proved to be one long and winding road.
And we're not just talking mileage.
As the seven-time defending champs first served the season into play, the Lady Miners didn't have a whole lot of experience on the floor. With just one senior returning to the roster, it looked as though this might be the year Nevada Union's domination of Division I came to an end.
But now that the Lady Miners are once again back in the championship match, with seven juniors and six sophomores on the roster, it would appear Nevada Union now expects to be in the mix for the foreseeable future.
In addition to senior captain Abbie Miraldi, four more players returned from the 2008 varsity squad this fall, including juniors Tessa Butterfield and Ellie Selleck, along with sophomores Madison Heppe and Natalie Migliozzi.
Yet also making a return to the program were co-head coaches Larry Peterson and Bob Rogers, who after leading NU to six consecutive titles stepped away for the 2008 season in which coach Chrys Dudek led the Lady Miners to a record seventh straight section crown.
The last time the Lady Miners lost in the section playoffs, George W. Bush had been in office for mere months and the nation was just heading into the war in Afghanistan, following the Sept. 11 attacks only two months earlier.
And the majority of these Lady Miners were just second and third grade students.
Since that long ago loss in the section semifinals, Nevada Union has produced 31 consecutive section playoff victories. Netting No. 32 tonight not only would mean an eighth title, but also a first-round home match in next week's Northern California bracket of the CIF State Volleyball Championships.
But the Lady Miners aren't looking any further down the road than their stop tonight at the UC Davis Rec Hall, their annual pilgrimage for the section's top prize. Nevada Union knows it will find a familiar, yet formidable foe on the opposite side of the net.
Oak Ridge (26-11), which won the 2008 section title in Division II, claimed the top seed after moving into Division I this season. The Trojans, who split the Sierra Valley Conference with Christian Brothers, have faced the Lady Miners twice this season.
In the first matchup, Oak Ridge dealt visiting Nevada Union a 3-1 defeat on Sept. 30. But in the Trojans' 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19 victory, the Lady Miners were without Selleck, the team's second-leading hitter with 255 kills.
The next time the two teams met, in the St. Francis Super 8 Tournament on Halloween, the Miners had Selleck back in the swing, along with Miraldi (329 kills), Butterfield (156 kills) and sophomore Jenna Britton (127 kills). Nevada Union took the match 2-0 (25-22, 25-15), en route to claiming the Super 8 tourney title.
Oak Ridge is led by senior outside hitter Kayla Berringer's 407 kills. Katie Vaughn, a junior outside hitter, has driven home 341 kills on the campaign. Sarah Horning has added 166 kills, and Haley Simmons 111, to the Trojan cause.
To reach the championship match, Oak Ridge opened with a 3-0 win over No. 16 seed Chavez, followed by a 3-0 sweep of No. 8 Edison in round two. The Trojans narrowly advanced out of Tuesday's semifinal with No. 12 Pleasant Grove by a 3-2 count (20-25, 25-13, 25-18, 15-25, 15-13).
Tonight's match at UC Davis marks the first time in the playoff run that Oak Ridge will have played outside the friendly confines of their home court.
The Lady Miners, on the other hand, have proven to be quite the road warriors. After being tagged with the 11th seed, the Miners headed south to beat Lodi 3-1 in the opener, followed by a 3-0 sweep of No. 3 seed Modesto on the Panthers' home floor two nights later.
And on Tuesday, Nevada Union returned from a trip to Napa with a 3-1 win over the second-seeded Indians.
In all, including tonight's title match at UC Davis, the Lady Miners will have traveled approximately 831 miles in an attempt to keep alive the longest winning streak in the history of Sac-Joaquin Section volleyball playoff history.
First serve is set for 8 p.m.
Contact Sports Editor Brian Hamilton via e-mail at bhamilton@theunion.com or by phone at 477-4240.
And we're not just talking mileage.
As the seven-time defending champs first served the season into play, the Lady Miners didn't have a whole lot of experience on the floor. With just one senior returning to the roster, it looked as though this might be the year Nevada Union's domination of Division I came to an end.
But now that the Lady Miners are once again back in the championship match, with seven juniors and six sophomores on the roster, it would appear Nevada Union now expects to be in the mix for the foreseeable future.
In addition to senior captain Abbie Miraldi, four more players returned from the 2008 varsity squad this fall, including juniors Tessa Butterfield and Ellie Selleck, along with sophomores Madison Heppe and Natalie Migliozzi.
Yet also making a return to the program were co-head coaches Larry Peterson and Bob Rogers, who after leading NU to six consecutive titles stepped away for the 2008 season in which coach Chrys Dudek led the Lady Miners to a record seventh straight section crown.
The last time the Lady Miners lost in the section playoffs, George W. Bush had been in office for mere months and the nation was just heading into the war in Afghanistan, following the Sept. 11 attacks only two months earlier.
And the majority of these Lady Miners were just second and third grade students.
Since that long ago loss in the section semifinals, Nevada Union has produced 31 consecutive section playoff victories. Netting No. 32 tonight not only would mean an eighth title, but also a first-round home match in next week's Northern California bracket of the CIF State Volleyball Championships.
But the Lady Miners aren't looking any further down the road than their stop tonight at the UC Davis Rec Hall, their annual pilgrimage for the section's top prize. Nevada Union knows it will find a familiar, yet formidable foe on the opposite side of the net.
Oak Ridge (26-11), which won the 2008 section title in Division II, claimed the top seed after moving into Division I this season. The Trojans, who split the Sierra Valley Conference with Christian Brothers, have faced the Lady Miners twice this season.
In the first matchup, Oak Ridge dealt visiting Nevada Union a 3-1 defeat on Sept. 30. But in the Trojans' 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19 victory, the Lady Miners were without Selleck, the team's second-leading hitter with 255 kills.
The next time the two teams met, in the St. Francis Super 8 Tournament on Halloween, the Miners had Selleck back in the swing, along with Miraldi (329 kills), Butterfield (156 kills) and sophomore Jenna Britton (127 kills). Nevada Union took the match 2-0 (25-22, 25-15), en route to claiming the Super 8 tourney title.
Oak Ridge is led by senior outside hitter Kayla Berringer's 407 kills. Katie Vaughn, a junior outside hitter, has driven home 341 kills on the campaign. Sarah Horning has added 166 kills, and Haley Simmons 111, to the Trojan cause.
To reach the championship match, Oak Ridge opened with a 3-0 win over No. 16 seed Chavez, followed by a 3-0 sweep of No. 8 Edison in round two. The Trojans narrowly advanced out of Tuesday's semifinal with No. 12 Pleasant Grove by a 3-2 count (20-25, 25-13, 25-18, 15-25, 15-13).
Tonight's match at UC Davis marks the first time in the playoff run that Oak Ridge will have played outside the friendly confines of their home court.
The Lady Miners, on the other hand, have proven to be quite the road warriors. After being tagged with the 11th seed, the Miners headed south to beat Lodi 3-1 in the opener, followed by a 3-0 sweep of No. 3 seed Modesto on the Panthers' home floor two nights later.
And on Tuesday, Nevada Union returned from a trip to Napa with a 3-1 win over the second-seeded Indians.
In all, including tonight's title match at UC Davis, the Lady Miners will have traveled approximately 831 miles in an attempt to keep alive the longest winning streak in the history of Sac-Joaquin Section volleyball playoff history.
First serve is set for 8 p.m.
Contact Sports Editor Brian Hamilton via e-mail at bhamilton@theunion.com or by phone at 477-4240.
