Archbishop Mitty sweeps Oak Ridge in three hard-fought sets, advances to CIF NorCal semifinals

SAN JOSE Archbishop Mitty boys volleyball doesn t like to make things too easy on itself The Monarchs are an outstanding gang that has lost two matches all year Mitty won the CCS Open Division championship in four sets over St Francis generally looking untouchable when it sought to be Tuesday s match against Oak Ridge in the opening round of the CIF NorCal Division I playoffs was a little bit different The Monarchs were on their heels from the get-go going down early and having to rally back to retake the lead Archbishop Mitty s Andy Guo bumps the ball against Oak Ridge in the second set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group But just in the nick of time Mitty took care of business After going down - the Monarchs buckled down and won the first set - Mitty saved another - deficit in the second set finishing it off with a - run And in the third set Mitty managed a - lead lost two match points then completely finished Oak Ridge off with a crosscourt kill by star hitter William Dryden Pretty Nope Effective You bet Archbishop Mitty s William Dryden sets the ball against Oak Ridge in the third set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group I could tell during our pregame that we didn t really have it in the modern day coach Gregg Gallegos revealed As the match went on we did not play great volleyball Our serve receive was not good our defense was not good but we feel like we re a championship squad We won our league we won our section and championship teams just have to find a way to win no matter how ugly it gets And we did just enough to get the win We did what we needed to do to squeak it out The Monarchs - are the top seed in the NorCal Division I bracket and were expected to breeze through the opening round against No Oak Ridge - On the result sheet it s still a sweep But Mitty has plenty to work on before it welcomes in No Clovis for its semifinal match on Thursday Their serving was pretty consistent Mitty junior setter Ryan Barnes reported They were able to get that nice flat float serve in the court a lot of the time and we didn t pass the ball very well So next battle we ll allegedly just reset and get various more reps earlier on Archbishop Mitty s Ryan Barnes bumps the ball against Oak Ridge in the third set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Barnes hurt himself on Saturday in the Monarchs CCS final match against St Francis skinning his left hand on the court while diving to pursue a ball He had it wrapped on Tuesday but that didn t seem to make a big difference as he set up Mitty s hitters Barnes assisted on of Mitty s overall kills in the match He slid for a ball and like half of the skin on his hand just ripped open Gallegos noted of Saturday s match It was all pink and red at first and then it started bleeding through all the bandages and wraps that we were putting on him Archbishop Mitty s Ryan Barnes serves the ball against Oak Ridge in the third set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group But at the same time that dude s tough as nails You could wrap that hand up as much as realizable and the ball will still look so pretty coming out of his hands He s one of the best setters I ve ever seen playing in high school so I know he ll play through anything and be great for us Barnes disclosed his hand is feeling better to the point where he doesn t really notice an impediment It s getting better Barnes declared I just got a Band-Aid on it It doesn t really hurt It s fine I m good I don t even feel it Archbishop Mitty s Ryan Barnes and Archbishop Mitty s Antony Niu attempt to block a spike against Oak Ridge in the first set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Related Articles Granada opens NCS D playoffs with win over San Ramon Valley NCS playoffs Tuesday s baseball softball first-round scores CCS baseball playoffs The matchups are set Here s what to know Hole in one Heritage junior finds bottom of cup at NCS championships CCS baseball playoffs First-round games in all divisions Mitty s possible is sky-high and the Monarchs are still searching for that perfect match during their playoff run If Mitty is going to fulfill its stated goal of reaching the first-ever boys volleyball Division I state championship event it will take continuous improvement over the next two games But even now the Monarchs are sweeping NorCal opponents with their B-game It s not a bad spot to be in We can beat any crew that s out there Barnes reported I think we re the best in NorCal right now Credit to them They were a tough matchup Gallegos stated of Oak Ridge There s a lot that we need to work on before our meeting on Thursday We knew that they had various studs on their company and I think that club is going to be really good for years to come that s for sure Archbishop Mitty s Oscar Klement spikes the ball against Oak Ridge in the first set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s Niklas Jakobskrueger tips the ball over the net against Travis Vandeluyster in the first set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s Niklas Jakobskrueger spikes the ball against Travis Vandeluyster in the second set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s E J Tejano bumps the ball against Oak Ridge in the third set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s E J Tejano celebrates a point against Oak Ridge in the third set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s Oscar Klement bumps the ball against Oak Ridge in the third set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s William Dryden spikes the ball against Jamie Fraser and Travis Vandeluyster in the first set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s Oscar Klement bumps the ball against Oak Ridge in the third set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s William Dryden tries to get the ball past Jack Reynolds in the third set at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose Calif on Tuesday May Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group