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Sports 1B Wednesday November 20, 2013 Mercy bows out of playoffs with 3-0 loss By CHIP THOMPSON DN editor Mercy High School won't have the chance to defend its Northern Section Championship title after falling in the second round of the playoffs Tuesday night to a visiting No. 5 Redding Christian squad. In what many considered the pairing of the two best Division VI teams in the section, the No. 4 Lady Warriors led much of the way but lost in three close games — 25-23, 25-21 and 25-23. Down 20-13 in the first match, Mercy fought its way back to 2423 before losing the game on a net serve. The Warriors seemed to wake up in the second game. Mercy took the lead early and were up 15-12 before Redding Christian went on a 7-point run to take the lead 19-15. The rest of the match Mercy was playing catch up, with Captain Jessica Curl scoring twice in a row with an authoritative spike and a precision corner shot. Her next spike went long and the momentum shifted back to Redding Christian, which held on for the 25-21 win. Mercy took control in the third game with runs of 5 unanswered and later 6 straight with Curl serving, taking a 12-6 lead. But Redding Christian wouldn't go down easily, scoring 5 straight of their own. With Mercy up 19-14, two extended rallies went Redding Christian's way and Mercy's lead slowly disappeared. The teams went back and forth before Redding Christian took the lead again for the first time since being up 3Daily News photo by Chip Thompson 2 early. Mercy watched their season Mercy's Caitlyn Safford spikes during the second game Tuesday evening against Redding Christian in the second round of section playoffs at Mercy High School. end with a 25-23 loss. Kobe cleared, but return against Warriors 'unlikely' Daily News photo by Andre Byik Los Molinos High's Emily Bailey (7) and Clarivel Castillo (1) handle a ball during their Northern Section CIF quarterfinal volleyball match against Hamilton High School on Tuesday at Los Molinos High School. LosMo thumps Hamilton, 3-0 By ANDRE BYIK DN Sports Editor LOS MOLINOS — It's uncharted waters for the Los Molinos High Lady Bulldogs volleyball team, which for the first time holds the No. 1 seed in the Northern Section CIF Division V playoffs. On Tuesday, the No. 1 Bulldogs navigated through the No. 9 Hamilton Braves with ease, winning 25-9, 25-12, 25-11 in a quarterfinal match. "We've always been an underdog," Los Molinos coach Chas Konopka said. "First time No. 1 seed, first time league champion, first time 37 wins, everything's new." Los Molinos (37-8) took advantage of a weakened Hamilton squad that just last year beat the Bulldogs in the section championship game. Hamilton (10-25) found itself in a 14-1 hole early in the first game after Los Molinos reeled off 10 straight points on Emily Bailey's service. Bailey finished the night with 12 kills and an ace. Bulldogs star Clarivel Castillo put the game away with an emphatic kill to give Los Molinos a 1-0 lead. Castillo notched 17 kills on the night with two aces and five digs. Game 2 started in similar fashion as the Bulldogs raced to a 6-2 lead on kills from Kaitlyn Seaman, Bailey and an ace served up by Jasmine Ortega. Seaman finished the night with 26 assists. The Braves would cut that lead to 13-10 before a Castillo kill set up another four-point streak that would see a kill from Katie Morgan, who led the team in digs with 14. Hamilton's problems were compounded by some sloppy play, and Castillo again polished the Bulldogs 25-12 Game 2 win with a kill. Los Molinos took advantage of a Hamilton error to start Game 3 and went on to win the next 11 points on Morgan's service to run away with a 12-0 lead. Hamilton was often caught flatfooted in the brisk match that took less than an hour to complete, and found itself down 17-6 before the Bulldogs' Jasmine Madera led her team to a 23-7 Game 3 lead with some commanding services. Madera finished with two aces. Los Molinos extended its home winning streak to 15, and next faces No. 4 Pierce at 7 p.m. Thursday. EL SEGUNDO (AP) — Kobe Bryant is back in practice with the Los Angeles Lakers, and even the five-time NBA champion gets a charge out of getting back to work. Bryant participated in his second full workout with the Lakers at their training complex on Tuesday. He still isn't sure when he'll be back in uniform, but he's grateful to take the next step in his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon. ''It's always a much greater appreciation for it,'' Bryant said, his forehead beaded with post-practice sweat. ''You understand the mortality that comes with being on that doorstep. There's always a sense of enjoyment when you come back. ... Put the jersey on, you walk out in practice, and felt like it was '97 again and I was getting my first start as a pro.'' Bryant isn't setting a return date, but acknowledged he could see himself returning to the Lakers later this month. Coach Mike D'Antoni said Bryant will return whenever he says he's ready, although the Lakers' next game against Golden State on Friday is very unlikely. The fourth-leading scorer in NBA history hasn't played since tearing his Achilles tendon in a game against Golden State in April. He did several weeks of conditioning work before returning to practice last Saturday for a brief workout. Bryant did drills and 5-on-5 play with the Lakers on Tuesday. He says he's ''pleasantly surprised'' by how good he felt afterward. ''I just went out there and just played,'' Bryant said. ''Just tried to do what I normally do and figure some things out about my game, what can I do and what can't I do at this stage. Just try to figure out the route.'' Bryant says he could adjust his game and contribute something to the Lakers right now, but he wants to make sure he's ready to play for the long haul when he returns for his 18th NBA season. ''It's definitely something where you're kind of champing at the bit a little bit, but we've come so far,'' he said. ''I want to make sure, we all do, when you step out there you're ready to go the long haul, and it's not something that continues on. ... You just have to get stronger, but I could adjust my game and play at a pretty high level right now.'' Bryant's self-evaluation isn't about praising his strengths, such as his better-than-expected upper-body strength, but finding his weaknesses. He's also withholding judgment until he figures out how his body responds Wednesday morning. ''You've got to be honest with yourself, and if you have those limitations, then you've got to figure out a way to be effective around those,'' Bryant said. ''You can't be stubborn about that. If there are certain things that I used to do that I can't do now. I won't try to do them. I've got to figure out another way.'' Yanks president testifies in A-Rod case NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees President Randy Levine testified at Alex Rodriguez's grievance hearing Tuesday and denied conspiring with Major League Baseball on the 211game suspension given to the New York third baseman last summer. On the 10th day of the hearing, which started in September, Levine was asked a series of questions by Rodriguez lawyer Joseph Tacopina, according to a person with knowledge of the proceeding. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are confidential. The person said Levine testified for 10-15 minutes and denied having any personal gain from Rodriguez's suspension or the Yankees falling under the luxury tax threshold; and of having an agreement to receive a commission of any money the team saved because of the ban. Levine also denied discussing Rodriguez's discipline with Major League Baseball or Commissioner Bud Selig; and telling Rodriguez surgeon Dr. Bryan Kelly or anyone Tehama Tracker Today's schedule . NBA Sacramento at Phoenix, 6 p.m. Memphis at Golden State, 7:30 p.m. Sports on TV COLLEGE FOOTBALL 5 p.m. ESPN2 — N. Illinois at Toledo GOLF 6 p.m. TGC — PGA Tour, World Cup, first round, at Cheltenham, Australia MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 4 p.m. FSN — Charleston Southern at Baylor 5 p.m. FS1 — Miami (Ohio) at Xavier NBA BASKETBALL 4 p.m. ESPN — Indiana at New York 6:30 p.m. ESPN — Houston at Dallas NHL HOCKEY 5 p.m. NBCSN — Pittsburgh at Washington else that he wanted the player off the field, the person said. The person also said Levine testified he may have jokingly used the phrase ''is he off the juice?'' when talking with Rodriguez about other players who weren't performing. Levine testified he had no exact recollection. The hearing resumed Monday before arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, who also heard the case from Sept. 30-Oct. 3 and Oct. 15-18. Howard Gans, a lawyer for MLB, said in papers filed in federal court that Horowitz will hear the case daily through Nov. 26 rather than the original plan to recess after Friday and resume Dec. 16. MLB said U.S. District Judge Edgar Ramos in Manhattan issued an order Tuesday compelling Michael Sitrick, head of the public relations firm Sitrick & Co., to comply with a Sept. 19 subpoena issued by Horowitz to appear at the arbitration and to provide documents. Sitrick & Co. worked on Rodriguez's behalf earlier this year. In papers filed in New York Supreme Court on Oct. 29, MLB alleged Sitrick & Co. had provided records from Bosch to Yahoo Sports, which published a story Feb. 5 saying the name of 2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun appeared in records of Biogenesis of America, the Florida anti-aging clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs. MLB said in the court papers it believed the documents had been ''provided to Sitrick & Co. by Rodriguez or others acting on his behalf.'' Miami New Times had reported Jan. 29 that Rodriguez bought human growth hormone and other AP photo Alex Rodriguez signs autographs as he arrives at MLB headquarters in New York on Tuesday. performance-enhancing substances from Biogenesis during 2009-12. Sitrick's lawyers, who had the matter removed to federal court, did not respond to an email seeking comment on Ramos' order, which MLB said was read from the bench. Braun agreed July 22 to a season-ending 65-game suspension. Rodriguez was suspended on Aug. 5 for alleged violations of the sport's drug agreement and labor contract, and the players' union filed the grievance to overturn the penalty. It remains unclear whether Rodriguez will testify; he continued to play while contesting the penalty. The three-time AL MVP said four years ago he used PEDs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, but has denied using them since.