Tuesday's match
No. 4 Notre Dame (23-12) at No. 1 Head Royce-Oakland (33-1), 7 p.m.
The Spirits are returning to the site of one of the programs biggest wins ever, having defeated Head-Royce in four sets last fall to advance to the Northern California finals.
Once again the Jayhawks are the higher seed and with good reason, sitting at 33-1 this year, having won 23 straight en route to a North Coast Section Division V title.
Undefeated at home, Head-Royce's only loss all season came from Campolindo, who is ranked in the top 35 in the state of all divisions.
The Jayhawks are a young roster with seven sophomores and two freshmen filling roles, while twins Jessica and Alison Almgren-Bell are the heart of the team.
Making their fourth semifinals appearance in the last five years, the Spirits are reaping the benefits of having played in an 'A' league in the Division V playoffs.
No moment has been to big for a program that lost its best player five weeks ago, having dropped just one match in the month of November to Santa Catalina.
Keona Stopper and Mikeila Banda have compensated for the loss of Julia Scattini, having combined for nearly 400 kills on the outside this year.
Opponents have to pay attention to middle blocker Adeline Laughton, who has fed off of sets from Spencer Hagenbuch to average nearly 10 kills a match in the postseason.
Defense and serving will be the key for the Spirits. Laughton has been steady at the net while Banda continues to fill a role in the back row on rotation along with Katie DeSerpa.
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