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ByAndreByik abyik@redbluffdailynews.com @andrebyik on Twitter LOS MOLINOS The Los Moli- nos High School girls volleyball team is the defending Northern Section CIF Division V cham- pion, but its coach is embracing the underdog role after a first- round playoff win over the vis- iting Weed Cougars on Wednes- day. The sixth-seeded Lady Bull- dogs beat the No. 11 Cougars 25- 17, 25-16, 21-25, 25-19, enjoying strong play from freshman Ra- chel Rogers and senior captain Gilsa Castellon. Bulldogs coach Chas Konopka said Los Molinos may be over- looked this go-round through the Northern Section playoffs, but that's all right. "We're a super young — expe- rience wise — team compared to last year," Konopka said. "We graduated 10 seniors that all played, and we only have one returning girl that played quite a bit last year." The Lady Bulldogs (21-10-3, 5-3 Five Star League), down 14- 13 in the first set, reeled off five straight points — four on Han- nah Rogers' service — to take a 18-14 lead it wouldn't give up. In the second set, Los Moli- nos dug in after taking an 10-9 lead, winning seven straight points on Castellon's service and cruising to a commanding two-set lead. Weed (9-11, 5-7 Shasta Cas- cade League), for its part, staged an impressive comeback in the third set. Down 8-2 early, the Cougars used timely blocks by Angel Whatley and strong serves from Rachel Michelon to nab the set, 25-21. "We just ran out of momen- tum," Konopka said. "We had so much momentum in Game 1, and we got momentum in Game 2, and then Game 3 we just kind of relaxed and put it on cruise control." Up 13-10 in the fourth set, the Bulldogs enjoyed seven straight points on Rachel Rog- ers' service leading to a 25-19 win. "We passed pretty well to our setter, Vanesa (Cota) tonight," Konopka said. "She has pretty good hands and she has a pretty good service." Los Molinos will next travel to No. 3 Hamilton for a quar- terfinal match at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Bulldogs beat the Braves in the quarterfinal round last year. "It's going to be a solid match up," Konopka said. "Hamilton has been our nemesis for a long time. We got them last year, and I think it's going to be a really good match up." HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS LadyBulldogsmove onoverCougars,3-1 No.6seedLosMolinoswinsfirst-round playoff match in Northern Section Division V ANDREBYIK—DAILYNEWS Los Molinos High School's Rachel Rogers, right, strikes the ball against the visiting Weed Lady Cougars during a first-round playoff volleyball match on Wednesday. By Rich Greene rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com @richgreenenews on Twitter RED BLUFF The Mercy Lady Warriors got a bit of a wake-up call from visiting Maxwell in their Division-VI playoff opener Tuesday, before waking up and resembling the team that earned the No. 4 seed. Mercy dropped the first game and bounced back to advance 17- 25, 25-15, 25-16, 25-15. Midway through Game 2 Mercy coach Zane Zelei could be heard clearly throughout the gym encouraging his team to communicate. A few minutes later it was tough to hear as the Mercy fans finally had something to cheer about. Leading by just a point at 14- 13, Mercy pulled away behind the service of Caitlyn Safford and cruised from there to a 25- 15 win in Game 2. Safford's service proved cru- cial in the decisive Game 4 as well. Mercy was clinging to a 12- 11 lead, before the left served off seven straight points to expand the lead to 20-11. "I think we already had it in our minds that this game was over before it started," Zelei said of Mercy's slow start. That could have been a result of the Lady Warriors sweeping the same seniorless Maxwell team just eight days ago. That week Mercy (24-12) also swept No. 2 seed Liberty Chris- tian, showing what the Lady Warriors are capable of when they play their best. There were glimpses of that Wednesday with Marissa Star- man and Madeline Flynn con- trolling the net, CJ Johnson contributing from the outside and Tasha Pimentel setting the whole show up. "If this team (Wednesday's slow performance) shows up we're going to see, but if the team that normally shows up - than we should be in the finals," Zelei said. The next step is Tuesday back at home against the winner of No. 12 Hayfork versus No. 5 Westwood in the D-VI quarter- finals. HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS Mercy overcomes early scare, takes win Lady Warriors advance to quarterfinals in Northern Section Division VI bracket play RICH GREENE — RED BLUFF DAILY NEWS Mercy's Marissa Starman (center) gets ready for a block Wednesday night against Maxwell. By Rich Greene rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com @richgreenenews on Twitter. Leaves are changing colors, sweaters can be worn and turkeys are showing up at supermarkets by the dozen. But to me nothing says its November than the prep football playoff season. DIVISION III FIRST ROUND — NO. 5 CORNING (6-4) AT NO. 4 ORLAND (9- 1), 7 P.M. FRIDAY For the second straight year, these two rivals meet for the second time in a sea- son in the 4-5 quarterfinal game. Last year Orland was without star quarterback Tyler Batchel- der for the regular-season title and Corning won 27-13. Batchelder returned in time for the playoffs, a 13-6 Orland win. This year Corning star running back Alex Davila left early against the Trojans and Orland went on to a 21-7 victory. If the role reversal continues it would also keep with another trend — Corning hasn't dropped two consecutive games all season. The Cardinals also haven't won three in a row, which it would take at this point to be crowned Northern Section champions. Corning's been led this season by Chance Nelson, who racked up 1,107 rushing yards and 15 touch- downs. He's also caught three more scores and passed for two. Davila has complemented Nel- son to the tune of 811 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. He's also caught a touchdown and re- turned a kickoff for a score. Tony Carrillo, Nelson, Aiden Nye, Joseph Aguirre, Osiel Villa and Quincy Jones have been de- fensive standouts. Corning has utilized the pass- ing game far more than it has in previous years, with 80 passing attempts. Most of them come from Wy- att Haydon. Orland has passed less than Corning, also the Trojans have completed theirs at a better clip behind James Wiseman. Wiseman, along with Juan Maldonando Jr., play support in the rushing game for Arthur Flynn, who rushed for 1,137 yards and 15 scores. Flynn's also Orland's top tack- ler. Tanner Thompson and Cody Putnam have combined for 29.5 sacks on the season. Salvador Mora's field goal kick- ing ability could be an X-factor for Corning. Orland's only loss came against top-ranked Sutter. DIVISION VI SEMIFINALS — NORTH NO. 2 MERCY (6-5) AT SOUTH NO. 1 REDDING CHRISTIAN (11-0) An- other rematch from the regular season. Redding Christian beat up Mercy on Aug. 30 53-20 to open the season, but as Hayfork learned last week this is a much different Warriors team. Al House has been on fire for the Warriors, with 11 touchdowns in the past two games. Koleby Potter has guided Mercy at quarterback, which is getting quality contributions from Wil- liam Gentry and Elijah Gash, who has emerged late in the season as another running option. While Mercy's offense has been dominant in recent weeks, Red- ding Christian has been domi- nant in recent years. The Lions are riding a 16-game winning streak, dating back to last season and including the 2013 section championship. Over the past three seasons the Lions are 36-2. Austin Dean and Frankie Aven- tino, who doubles as the primary quarterback, are both over 1,200 rushing yards for Redding Chris- tian. Josiah Wyse has 894 as the third option. Both schools have strong de- fenses for 8-man football. PLAYOFF PREVIEW Cool temps, turkeys and playoff football The pilot of the Virgin Galactic spaceship that tore apart over the Mojave Desert didn't know his co-pilot had prematurely unlocked its brakes, though protocol required the co-pilot to announce the step. FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS Spacepilotunaware brake was unlocked FULLSTORYONPAGEB4 The Redding Rebels 14-and- under traveling so ball team is hosting tryouts at 1p.m. Sunday at Big League Dreams in Redding. For more informa- tion call Mike at 524-1573or email bwana1y@yahoo.com. SOFTBALL Redding Rebels 14u team holding tryouts The Northern Section champi- onship cross country finals are scheduled for 3p.m. today at West Valley High School. The finals will include 616runners from 33different schools. CROSS COUNTRY Section finals today at West Valley High It wasn't the year for the ev- eryman poker hobbyist at the World Series of Poker's final main event table, but rather it was a matchup of skilled pro- fessionals with online poker pedigrees, backed by teams. SKILLED PROS World Series of Poker matches wits, data FULL STORY ON PAGE B8 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, November 13, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1