Dragons volleyball advances to tournament finals

The Sonoma Valley High School girls volleyball team, the regular season champion, beat the Healdsburg Greyhounds in straight sets Tuesday to advance to the finals of the Sonoma County League tournament. Sonoma, 27-6 on the year, hosts the third-seeded Analy Tigers (17-9) Thursday night (11/1) at 7 p.m. in Pfiffier Gym for the SCL tournament title.

Against Healdsburg, Sonoma used solid defense and good passing to win the first set 25-18. In the second set, the Lady Dragons battled for a 25-23 victory.

In the third set, Sonoma jumped out early with Gianni Monterosso serving 6 straight points. A huge kill by Delaney Swanson (pictured) put the Dragons up to 7-1, and they raced to a 14-2 lead. Just when it looked like Sonoma was going to run away with the match the Greyhounds stormed back, cutting the gap to 15-10.

The teams traded points with many long rallies. Leading 23-19, Sonoma scored the next two points to win the game and sweep the match. Leading the way for the Dragons were Delaney Swanson with 10 kills, Hannah Herrick with 7 kills and 2 assisted blocks, and Ciera Smith and Mackenzie Albrecht with 5 kills apiece. Monterosso had 4 aces and 22 assists, Albrecht tallied 17 digs, Anastasia Claros had 10 digs and Alexis Long-Am totaled 9 digs.