Notre Dame-Head Royce volleyball

Saturday's match
CIF State Northern California Division V playoffs
No. 3 Notre Dame (32-5) at No. 2 Head-Royce , Oakland (36-2), 7 p.m.
 The Spirits are no strangers to being on the road in the State Northern California tournament, having knocked off the No. 2 seed last year.
 Head-Royce has dropped just one non-tournament match all season -- that coming last week to No. 1 seed Branson in the North Coast Section finals.
 The Jayhawks are 10-0 at home this year, beating Hamilton in four games on Tuesday in their Nor Cal tournament opener.
 Notre Dame, who won its second consecutive Central Coast Section Division V title last week,  has swept all four of its postseason opponents this year.
 In fact, 24 of Notre Dame's 32 wins this season have been by sweeps. It's only played two five-game matches this year, going 1-1.
 Gabilan Division Player of the Year Nikki DeSerpa has been unconscious at the net for the Spirits in the postseason. Simply put, no one has been able to stop her.
 Yet, she's just part of the assault in the front row as Jennifer Lane, Kate Lathos, Chase Hagenbuch and Adeline Laughton have all gotten into the act, feeding off sets from Julia Scattini.
 Scattini and libero Mikeila Banda have served well in the postseason with Banda serving 10 straight points on four aces in Game 2 of the Spirits sweep of Bradshaw Christian on Tuesday.
 Head-Royce has won 30 or more matches two straight years and four consecutive league titles, but has never reached this plateau.