Who’s ready for Leigh-Branham Part IV?
The well-acquainted San Jose rivals will meet for the fourth time this season after both teams took care of business in the opening round of the CIF NorCal Division III playoffs.
Leigh, the top seed in the D-III bracket, handled a feisty Washington-Fremont bunch with a 25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 25-13 win on its home court in the South Bay.
Branham, the No. 4 seed, had no problem with No. 5 Ripon Christian, sweeping the visitors from the San Joaquin Valley 25-22, 25-22, 25-19.
Thus, the stage is set for one final meeting of the two Blossom Valley Athletic League foes this year.
The only meeting at Leigh was the best one for the Longhorns (26-8), who earned a 25-21, 25-17, 25-22 sweep. Branham (27-10) returned the favor in the two teams’ second matchup, winning 25-10, 25-16, 25-17 at home.
They faced off again in the CCS Division I final. Leigh prevailed 17-25, 26-24, 25-20, 24-26, 15-6 in that match to claim a section title.
Leigh celebrates their 3-2 victory against Branham in the CCS Division 1 Volleyball Championship at the Harker School in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)On the line this time will be a trip to the Division III regional championship game, which Leigh would host if it wins. One more win after that would give the Longhorns – or the Bruins – a berth in the first-ever Division III state championship game.
Senior Cooper Smith was an individual standout for Leigh against Washington (13-11), racking up 25 kills. Junior Henry Chen added 12, and freshman middle blockers Aaron Sayasane and Eric Brehmer had seven kills each for the Longhorns.
Branham used a balanced effort to take down Ripon. Andrew Casale led the Bruins with 10 kills, followed by Marty Jones (9), Satya Raman (7), Kai Wong (4), Patrick Willson (4), Trenton Reilly (2) and Pasha Znamerovsky (1).
Willson added four service aces, and Jones aced three serves. Jones led Branham with six digs, Casale had five and Madrigal dug out three balls.
No. 3 Monta Vista 3, No. 6 Redwood 2
Monta Vista had to work for it, but the Matadors are on to the second round after a thrilling 16-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12 win over Redwood in Cupertino.
Charlie Jiang led MV (26-13) with 11 kills, Praneel Shah had 10, Ayan Deshpande added eight and Pratham Kannan finished seven points.
The Mats will now travel to face No. 2 International-San Francisco on Thursday. International (25-7) knocked off No. 7 Christian Brothers of Sacramento 25-15, 25-21, 25-15 on Tuesday in the City.
Division I
No. 1 Archbishop Mitty 3, No. 8 Oak Ridge 0
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, but Mitty ultimately took care of business with a sweep of visiting Oak Ridge, which hails from the Sacramento area. Setter Ryan Barnes continued to nurse a hand injury as Mitty muddled through en route to a sweep. Christian Babcock was in San Jose and has the full story here.
Etc.
No. 2 Harker remained the only other local team alive in the Division I bracket, taking down No. 7 Folsom in identical straight sets (25-21, 25-21, 25-21) … No. 5 Northgate had an unproductive trip to the Central Valley, falling 3-1 to No. 4 Clovis … No. 6 St. Francis endured a similar fate, dropping a 3-0 decision at Clovis East.
Division II
No. 4 Los Gatos 3, No. 5 Lincoln-San Francisco 1
Los Gatos took advantage of home court on Tuesday, topping its visitors from the City 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21.
Sean Slover led the Wildcats (20-11) on the score sheet with 14 kills, while Markus McGrath chipped in 12. Nolan Harr posted nine, with Weston Kafer, Reily Nguyen and Nico Bianchi each contributed five.
Harr also had five blocks to lead the Cats. Kafer and Bianchi each blocked three and Nguyen had two, while McGrath and Slover each swatted one.
Will Enneking led Los Gatos with 12 kills. Kafer and Nguyen were close behind with nine apiece, Harr compiled eight, Slover had six and McGrath dug up two.
Nguyen had three aces to pace the Wildcats from the service line. Harr, McGrath and Enneking each notched one.
Etc.
Top seed Buchanan of Clovis swept No. 8 West Park of Roseville 25-9, 25-17, 25-23 and will host Los Gatos on Thursday … No. 2 Amador Valley earned a hard-fought win over No. 7 Clovis North, taking the match 24-26, 25-20, 26-24, 25-23 to advance to the second round … The Dons will host No. 3 Del Oro of Loomis, which swept No. 6 Harbor of Santa Cruz 25-20, 25-18, 25-19, in the semis.
Division IV
No. 1 Ben Holt College Prep-Stockton 3, No. 8 Benicia 0
Benicia’s season came to an end in Stockton as the Panthers ran into a Ben Holt buzzsaw. The home Bobcats (39-1), which have not lost a game at home all season, won 25-13, 25-18, 25-14.
Duncan Seeley led Benicia (13-15) with eight kills, followed by Elijah Stritter and Kahbran Marvin with three each. Cruz had 12 set assists to lead the Panthers, and Jeremy Young had eight digs to pace Benicia.
Ben Holt will next host No. 5 Oakland (24-7), which upset No. 4 Balboa 25-19, 25-23, 25-27, 25-9 in San Francisco.
No. 3 Oakland Tech 3, No. 6 Albany 2
A true point-to-point dogfight that could have gone either way fell the way of Oakland Tech on Tuesday night in Oakland.
The Bulldogs beat Albany 18-25, 25-14, 24-26, 25-17, 15-13 in an all-East Bay showdown in the Town, advancing to face No. 2 Livingston on Thursday.
As can be expected in a taut five-setter, both teams put up some big numbers. Senior outside hitter Adam Edlin led Tech (20-12) with 27 kills, and fellow senior OH Vince Burke Pulsipher had 20.
Related Articles
CIF NorCal boys volleyball: First-round scores in all divisions Archbishop Mitty sweeps Oak Ridge in three hard-fought sets, advances to CIF NorCal semifinals CIF NorCal boys volleyball: First-round matchups in all divisions Prep roundup: Leigh wins thrilling five-setter over Branham; Sacred Heart Prep, Mitty capture boys, girls lacrosse titles William Dryden stars as Archbishop Mitty goes up early, holds on to win first CCS title in 12 years over St. FrancisJunior middle hitter Rex Ansley compiled six blocks, and sophomore middle Johnny Sider added a pair. Senior setter Charlie Bason led the way with a trio of service aces.
Tenzin Losel had a fantastic all-around game for Albany (22-16) with 22 set assists, 10 kills and six aces. Tenzin Kalsang added a pair of aces and 10 kills.
Harris Reydon led the way defensively with 18 digs and also aced five balls from the service line. Tenzin Thinley had six kills and eight digs.
Livingston swept another East Bay team, No. 7 Berean Christian, out of the NorCal playoffs with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-16 win.
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