The Falcons' first match on Saturday - with state #1 Feather River - lost a bit of its luster when Cabrillo opened the tournament with a narrow 5-set upset win over the Eagles. Playing Feather River in the next match, the Falcons, to their credit, showed no compassion for their opponent, winning in straight sets 25-15, 25-21, 25-21. With the offense hitting on all cylinders, the Falcons were nearly unstoppable. It was a marked difference from their home loss on Wednesday night when they fell in 4 sets to Sierra; middle hitters Yasmine Sowell-Scott and Jessica Baker, outside hitters Julin Kenison, Kaitlin Bullock, and Caitlin Dillon, and setters Kennedy Crawford and Taylor Coate all fueled an offense that could not be stopped. With libero Madi Pearce digging everything in sight, the Falcons played with a confidence that had not been seen in 2019.
Immediately following their upset win over Feather River, the Falcons faced a rested Cabrillo squad in their own gym and left little doubt about who was the tournament champion, winning in 4 sets, 25-15, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21. Again, this hardly resembled the team that looked so discombobulated during the week. "I am just so proud of the work this team did over the past few days recovering from some hard losses," noted head coach Molly Hanrahan. "It was super fun to watch, just exhilarating!"
The Falcons (11-3, 3-2 in Big 8) will now refocus on the Big 8 schedule as they host Diablo Valley (0-13, 0-5 in Big 8) on Wednesday night before taking on Sac City (7-10, 1-3) on Friday night in Sacramento.
