Yuba one match away from title

The Yuba College women's volleyball team is cruising toward another Bay Valley Conference championship.

In the home finale Thursday night, the 49ers took care of Marin College in three games 25-18, 25-18, 25-11 to maintain their hold of first place in the conference with just one game to play.

Despite being tied with Napa College at the top of the standings with identical 14-1 records, Yuba holds the tie-breaker in case they remain tied at the end. Each team beat the other, but the 49ers beat Napa in four games, while Napa took five games to beat Yuba.

"We finish the season at Los Medanos next Wednesday," said Yuba head coach Greg Chapman. "We beat them before in three games; so if we win, we win the championship."

As for Thursday's game, the 49ers were in control throughout the contest.

Fiona Newman led the team with 14 kills as well as serving at 93 percent, including two aces.

"She is our go-to player," said Chapman. "When she swings that arm and hits the ball, she's going to do some damage."

Sophomores Lateric Johnson and Tawnie Savage each added eight kills, with many coming at key moments during the three-game match. It seemed like every ball that went over the net ricocheted off Marin players all night.

"We were quick-hitting the whole game," said Chapman. "We quick hit before they could form their blocks and get their hands in position to return our shots."

Yuba trailed very early in game one before Whitney Provancha served four points to give the 49ers an 8-4 lead. One of the best servers in the state, Provancha finished with one ace and a 94 percent success serving behind the line.

Savage had a stretch of three straight kills as the 49ers pull away in the end. Johnson hit a tip-over for another point. Then Newman drilled a long kill to the back corner to put game one away.

Newman was the star in game two. Each time it appeared Marin was poised to make a run, the freshman from Marysville was there to put an end to it. She had five kills in game two and made a pair of nice saves to keep rallies going. She also served five straight points. It wasn't until a Alyse Uhland tip over late in game two that the 49ers could smell a win. Newman promptly served the game winner on the next serve.

The third game was the easiest of the three as Marin had no answers for the hard shots coming their way.