FOLSOM, Calif. – Opposite Gabrielle Rowe and setter Nika Jafari earned spots in the Sacramento Breakfast Optimist's senior all-star volleyball match, held at Folsom Lake College Sunday afternoon. Rowe and Jafari each played in the large-schools match for the South squad, which ultimately lost in heartbreaking fashion to the North team in five sets, 21-25, 15-25, 26-24, 25-19, 16-14.

The match not only features the top 12th-grade girls' volleyball talent in the Sacramento area, but serves as a fundraiser for the Optimist Club and its educational programs.

Rowe and Jafari each played significant time, with Rowe starting the first and third sets on her way to two kills and a dig. Jafari came off the bench in all five sets, finishing with 17 assists, six digs and even a rare free-ball kill. Additionally, she served up three aces, all in a long serving run that brought the South from a 23-13 hole to just a 23-22 deficit in the third. Jafari then assisted Pleasant Grove's Isis Castillo for the 24-24 equalizer before the North squeaked out the final two points.

Jafari made her first appearance in the final stretch of the opening set, but that also proved crucial for the South. She entered the match with her team facing a 20-17 deficit, but assisted Vacaville's Aria Woltz, PG's Zoe LIbel twice, then Christian Brothers' Faith Rabb-Patterson – the last of which gave her South squad its first lead.

Oak Ridge's Avery Towne (North) and Amy Ito (Cosumnes Oaks) earned their respective teams' Outstanding Player awards.