Valley Christian 3, Bay School of San Francisco 1

The Stars: Celestine Jahren and Lauren Kershner recorded several critical kills while Allison Frank's 11 point service run in the third set turned around the match for the Vikings.

The Quote: "If we keep this momentum we can make it all the way to state," Valley Christian coach Jon Tolentino said.

What's Next? The Vikings advance to the second round of the NCS Division V playoffs and will return to San Francisco on Saturday at 7 p.m. to play San Francisco University High (21-8).

Bottom Line: The Vikings have played tough matches nearly every step of the way and they are still standing. They are not a team likely to panic if they get behind early, making them a threat every night no matter who they play. Bay School had the home court advantage and the early 1-0 lead but the Vikings simply rallied back to dominate the match.

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It's an old adage: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

So do the Valley Christian High girls volleyball team.

After falling behind 1-0 after the first game, the Vikings rallied for a 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-20) over Bay School of San Francisco Wednesday night at Letterman Gym, advancing to the second round of the North Coast Section's Division V bracket.

"We've had a tough season full of tough matches," said Valley Christian head coach Jon Tolentino. "But we train that way, being down by seven points and we keep playing until we have caught up again."

Bay School (11-14) closed out the opening game by just two points as the teams went back and forth throughout and the Breakers jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the second game. But the Vikings (18-10) scored nine of the next 11 points to regain control of the game.

The Breakers rallied back to tie the game on five different occasions before the Vikings closed out the game with a three-point run, capped by a game-winning kill by Lauren Kershner.

The third game started out as a mirror image of the first two, with the teams keeping pace with each other until Valley Christian tied the game at 7-7. The Vikings pushed out to a 13-11 lead before regaining the serve with Allison Frank taking over the serve.

Before Frank would relinquish the serve to the Breakers, she would lead the Vikings on an 11-point run and a commanding 24-12 lead. On the next Breakers serve, Ashley Baldi wrapped up the game for the Vikings with a solid kill.

Valley Christian kept the momentum going into the fourth game, jumping out to an 18-8 lead before the Breakers would make one last stand on their home court. Bay School rallied back to within three points at 22-19 but the Vikings would not let them get any closer and started celebrating their playoff win as Celestine Jahren slammed a match-winning kill past the Breakers defense.

"If we can keep up this momentum, we can go all the way to state," Tolentino said.

But first, the Vikings will have to make the trek back across the Bay Bridge on Saturday at 7 p.m. to play San Francisco University High at 7 p.m. in the second round.