Canyons Concludes Season with Third Place Finish at CCCAA State Championship

A rematch of Saturday's five-set thriller was all Cabrillo College, as the Seahawks won their second match of the day in a sweep over the host team College of the Canyons on day two of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Women's Volleyball State Championship.

Cabrillo controlled the match from the get-go with a 5-0 lead that it built to 16-8, with the Seahawks hitting .367 in the opening set.

In set two, Cabrillo libero Alyssa Nelson served on seven straight Seahawks' points, three for aces as the Seahawks jumped out to a commanding 8-0 advantage. The closest Canyons could get was at 9-6.

In the third set, COC showed life taking its first lead of the match at 3-2. The teams traded nine ties and four lead changes, until Cabrillo pulled ahead with an 18-15 advantage.

Canyons freshman All-American Emily Bible finished the match with a team-high nine kills, while sophomore Alize Bricot had seven kills and an ace.

Bible and sophomore middle blocker Alexa Hesseldenz were both named to the 2015 State Championship All-Tournament team.

After the game Hooper talked about her team's 2015 season, which resulted in the best finish in school history with a third place finish at the State Championship. This year's squad was also the first to win a State Championship tournament game.

"I really thought that my team last year had the best chance of reaching a state tourney especially because we had a big sophomore class," said Hooper. "I didn't know what to expect from this year's team, but we had a very balanced group and we demonstrated great determination in coming together.I think the players on this squad will remember being a part of this state tournament the rest of their lives. I always say that sports is a metaphor for life with the volume turned up."

The Seahawks' win over COC helped spark a historic state tournament run that saw Cabrillo win 10 consecutive sets out of the loser's bracket to capture the 2015 CCCAA State Championship.

Cabrillo finished off a day that featured sweeps of all three state tourney participants — Foothill College, Pierce College and Canyons — in win the double elimination tournament.

After a 3-0 victory over the Brahmas in the afternoon match, Cabrillo then won the extra set to give Pierce its second loss of the tourney.

The win marks Cabrillo's second state championship crown in three seasons. The Seawhawks finished state runner-up in 2014, but won the North region's first ever women's volleyball state championship in 2013.