East Nicolaus advances into NorCal Division IV Elite 8: Spartans edge West Campus in four sets

Nov. 8—The East Nicolaus High girls volleyball team had a singular focus Tuesday night as the Spartans opened another California Interscholastic Federation Northern California state Division IV playoff tournament.

"I am wanting to go far and further than last season," East Nicolaus senior Tiare Faupula said.

Led by Faupula and East Nicolaus' other outside hitter, Jadyn Hoffman, sixth-seeded East Nicolaus advanced past No. 11 West Campus, of Sacramento, in four sets (22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-20) to move into the CIF NorCal quarterfinals Thursday when the team will head north for its first MaxPreps era meeting with third-seeded Chico (27-14).

Faupula contributed 20 kills, three blocks and 16 digs against West Campus (35-5), while Hoffman collected a team-high 26 kills on 84 swings.

For East Nicolaus head coach Donald Takeuchi, Tuesday's win hinged on the team's improvement in the backrow.

"We started passing better so once we pass we can hit," Takeuchi said.

With an improved serve receive, East Nicolaus (29-2) was able to get it to its big guns, Faupula and Hoffman, more often off the setting hands of junior Addy Tagala, who chipped in 47 assists in four sets.

"(Faupula) is so athletic that she is getting up and above people," Takeuchi said. "She hits hard, it scares people when she is going up there."

East Nicolaus dropped a narrow 25-22 battle in the opening set, but was able to bounceback in another tight battle in the second to win 25-20 and equalize the match at one. East Nicolaus exchanged leads with West Campus, a team that beat East Nicolaus in a tournament in September, six times early before retaking the lead on a Hoffman swing at 16-14.

"I feel like a lot of it has to do with our energy and believing in ourselves because we have never really been a super successful school," Tagala said. "We never really trusted within ourselves that we could go the distance. The first set is our warmup set (where) we gauge the skill of the other team and then we get confidence throughout the (match)."

Hoffman and Faupula have combined for nearly 100 kills in the last two matches as East Nicolaus has been forced to put together consecutive rallies to come away with its third straight Northern Section Division V crown and a NorCal victory.

"It was genuinely our willpower and (saying), 'Hey, this is our last chance,'" Tagala said. "We have to put everything on the court and when we have everything we can do big things."

Now it's on to Chico and the NorCal Elite 8 where East Nicolaus will be gunning for its third state win in the last three seasons.

To buy tickets for Thursday, visit https://gofan.co/app/school/CIF?activity=Volleyball.