Sports Briefs: Branson, Redwood, MA win NCS tennis openers

MCAL singles champion Mirabel Arlander led the second-seeded Branson School to a sweep of No. 15 Salesian, 7-0, at College of Marin in Tuesday’s opener of the North Coast Section Division II girls tennis playoffs.

Arlander beat Megan Castellano, 6-1, 6-0, at the top of the singles ladder, and MCAL singles runner-up Katie Warrin of the Bulls beat Madden Nguyen, 6-0, 6-0. Branson also got singles wins from Audrey Gilmor and Paloma Vano-Rice.

Branson is scheduled to host No. 7 Arcata at 2 p.m. Thursday at College of Marin in a quarterfinal matchup.

• No. 3 Redwood advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1 victory over No. 15 Heritage in a D-I opening round match in Larkspur. The Giants’ Jordan Marotto held tough for a 6-4, 6-0 win over Chanelle Nau at the top of singles ladder. The Giants host No. 6 Mission San Jose on Thursday at 2 p.m.
• Marin Academy, seeded fourth in D-II, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1 road win against No. 13 Albany on Tuesday. The Wildcats move on to face No. 5 Piedmont at 2 p.m. Thursday at Dominican University.
• No. 14 Marin Catholic fell 5-2 to No. 3 Lick-Wilmerding in Tuesday’s D-II opening round.

Girls volleyball

Redwood got its NorCal Division I playoff campaign off to a flying start on Tuesday, rolling past Vacaville, 25-11, 25-14, 25-13. Stats were not available at press time. The No. 6 Giants (25-5) advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal against host and No. 3 seed Clovis (27-10).

• Natalia Clifford and Natalie Stanford had 12 kills apiece but Tam’s season came to an end following a 17-25, 25-20, 21-25, 20-25 road loss to No. 8 Palo Alto (31-5) on Tuesday. Clifford added 10 digs, six aces, and three blocks for the No. 9 Red-tailed Hawks (26-11). Stanford added nine digs, two blocks, and an ace. Emmeline Sandgren had 33 assists and Jade Curtin-Savala had 17 digs and three aces. Reese Murphy added five kills and three blocks.

Reporting scores

Coaches are encouraged to report scores, stats and game details via email to sports@marinij.com or to @marinij_sports on Twitter following games. Anything that comes in after the deadline for print – around 8 p.m. typically – will be included the following day.