SANTA CRUZ — A split second after sprawling to the floor to dig a hit, Alexa Rosendale pried herself up, sprang into the air and attacked. Her powerful hit from the back row of the volleyball court at Santa Cruz High careened through the St. Francis defense and found its way to the floor for a kill.

That was the kind of night it was going to be for Rosendale and her Mount Madonna School girls volleyball team Thursday during the semifinals of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League tournament.

Rosendale finished with a career-high 40 kills and the Hawks advanced to the tournament final with a 21-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-22 win. The No. 2-seeded Hawks will play for a share of the league title tonight at 7 at Santa Cruz High against No. 1 Harbor, which beat No. 4 Aptos in four games.

"Alexa was unbelievable. That's the best I've ever seen her play," said Mt. Madonna coach Gabby Houston. "Her defense was incredible. She really, really was a standout player tonight"

To put Rosendale's performance in perspective, she made more kills than the rest of her team combined, and more than the entire St. Francis team. She also made 21 digs and two aces. Hannah Meade followed with 15 kills for the Hawks, and middle Ashleigh England proved to be a force with 10 kills. Setter Erin Mitchell made 56 assists and four digs.

Middle Katherine Brown led the Sharks with 15 kills and two blocks, while Rochelle Welch made six kills and seven aces and Erin Hurley made 16 digs. Megan House added eight kills before leaving the match in the fourth game with a possible tailbone injury.

St. Francis took control of the first game early and maintained it easily over a scattered Mt. Madonna team. But Rosendale seemed determined to stop the Sharks, even if she had to do it single handedly. She provided the spark, and by the end of the game, her teammates seemed to have absorbed her energy.

"There were a lot of motivating forces," Rosendale said. "One, we just lost to them in three [games]; we knew if they beat us and they beat Harbor in the final, a trip to CCS wouldn't be guaranteed; and they're our rival, so we're always fired up for them"

Both teams wanted the win to boost their chances of going to the Central Coast Section playoffs. Entering the match, Mount Madonna had a shaky hold on the second of the league's guaranteed berths [regular-season SCCAL champ Harbor owns the other.] They had to make it into the final to keep that berth, while St. Francis could have swiped it by winning the entire tournament.

But in the end, it looks as though both teams will be going anyway. Mt. Madonna protected its automatic berth, and St. Francis coach Denise Sheldon said she thought the Sharks' record would get them a spot.

"Because of points, I'm pretty sure we're going to be in," she said.

And that means there's a chance the league rivals could meet again, as both play in Division V.

But first, Rosendale's looking to win a share of the league title.

"I'm excited," she said. "We have nothing to lose, and we could be co-champions"

Harbor def. Aptos, 25-18, 22-25, 2519, 25-12: Aptos played well enough to take a game from Harbor, but couldn't stay consistent enough to steal the match. Harbor, meanwhile, had struggles of its own.

But thanks to a serving run by Karissa Cook in Game 1 and good hitting by Leslie Muirhead, the Pirates [35-14-0] will be headed to the SCCAL championship match against Mt. Madonna tonight at 7 at Santa Cruz High.

Sarah LeFever made six kills and three blocks for the Mariners [18-12, 7-7], whose season is still alive. Coach Jen Bryan said she expects her team to have a good enough record to qualify for a spot in the CCS D-III playoffs. Harbor, the regular-season champ, already has a spot set out for it in D-IV.