The Palo Alto girls' volleyball team will host the first NorCal championship in school history after the top-seeded Vikings disposed of No. 4 San Ramon Valley, 25-20, 25-23, 25-13, in a Division I semifinal on Saturday afternoon. Palo Alto (34-3) will host either No. 2 St. Francis (Sacramento) or No. 3 Menlo-Atherton on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Despite having some continuing problems with its serving, Paly was efficient in winning its 19th straight match -- especially in the third set when the Vikings jumped out to a 13-2 lead behind the solid play of seniors Melanie Wade, Kimmy Whitson, Maddie Kuppe, Caroline Martin and Jackie Koenig.
Wade led the way with 19 kills and Kuppe added 15, same as the numbers on their jerseys. Whitson had 32 assists. Paly trailed in the second set 18-16 before Kuppe came up with a block, Wade produced a kill Kuppe followed with another kill, Koenig served an ace, Wade assisted on a kill by Whitson and Koenig served another ace as Paly grabbed a 22-20 lead.
Paly trailed in the first set at 11-8, but scored six straight points for a 14-11 lead and never trailed again.
