JC notes: BC volleyball, Taft men's soccer teams seeking state titles
| Thursday, Dec 03 2009 10:39 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Dec 03 2009 10:54 PM
Bakersfield College volleyball and Taft College men's soccer have reached the summit of their respective seasons.
Both have qualified for the state championships in their respective sports that begin today.
The eight-team, double-elimination volleyball playoffs are being played at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton.
The Renegades (20-5), the No. 4-seeded team from Southern California, will face the north's top seed, Sacramento City College, today at 5:30 p.m.
Taft has advanced to the state Final Four at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento. The Cougars (17-5-1), who were seeded No. 1 in Northern California, face Santa Ana (15-5-4), the No. 4 seed from Southern California. That match begins today at 2 p.m.
The Renegades are coming off a stunning five-game upset of Pasadena City College, which was ranked No. 2 in the state and was the top seed in Southern California.
BC managed to win that game despite the loss of two key hitters to ankle injuries: middle blocker Corissa Alvarez and outside hitter Reisa Fessler.
BC coach Carl Ferreira said he was optimistic Alvarez and Fessler could be back tonight.
He credited BC athletic trainer Fred Smith, who hustled over to the volleyball match at Pasadena as soon as he could following the BC football team's playoff loss earlier in the day at Mount San Antonio College.
"The fact that we were able to quickly get treatment for them really helped," Ferreira said.
Libero Sarah Kurfess, a key to BC's success all season, had 38 digs and 10 set assists vs. Pasadena. "She put on a defensive clinic," Ferreira said.
LaPorsha Singh had 15 kills, including the match-winner in the fifth game.
Taft is motivated
The Cougars had extra incentive during the playoff run that got them into the soccer Final Four.
Last season, Taft was beaten 3-0 by Santa Rosa in the quarterfinals with what coach Angelo Cutrona said was a "loaded" team. Two red cards in that match meant the Cougars played two men down the entire second half and they couldn't overcome it.
"We had a chip on our shoulder this year, especially the sophomores," Cutrona said. "They needed that closure, to get to the Final Four. We believe we were a Final Four team last year."
The Cougars are led by Miguel Ibarra, who had 14 goals and eight assists and was named the co-MVP of the Central Valley Conference.
Christian Hernandez (eight goals, 10 assists) was the CVC's Offensive Player of the Year; and Sergio Cedano was the CVC Midfielder of the Year.
Other first-team All-CVC picks were Highland High grad Alex Caceres, Chris Sandoval and Tyler Coombes.
Second-team picks were Aurelio Sanchez, goalkeeper Jovany Munguia from Liberty High, defender Noel Lopez from Arvin High and forward Ivan Dominguez from Shafter High.
Ibarra, Hernandez, Cedano, Sandoval, Coombes and Sanchez are from the Lancaster-Palmdale area.
Taft was the state men's soccer champion in 2007 and placed second to Cerritos in 2006.
Taft has played each of the other Final Four teams -- Fresno faces Mount San Antonio in the other semifinal.
Men's basketball
Bakersfield College improved to 7-2 Thursday with an 87-68 men's basketball win over Barstow College in the Gil Bishop Sports Center. Bobby Fisher had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Renegades. Chase Adams added 16 points and nine rebounds, with E.J. Kirby and Skyler Vaden scoring 13 points each. Aaron Bowden had 21 points, on seven 3-pointers, for Barstow (5-3).
Women's basketball
Alexi Smith had 23 points and rebounds for Bakersfield College in a 91-80 loss to L.A. Pierce in the first round of the Cuesta Tournament in San Luis Obispo. BC (4-2) led 32-27 at halftime but Pierce was able to pull even at 55 with 10 minutes left to play and took the lead for good.
