The Napa High School volleyball team had all day Saturday to think about its CIF Northern California Division I semifinal match.

When the officiating crew arrived late, thus delaying the final warm-ups and start time, the Indians had another 28 minutes to collect their thoughts.

Napa didn’t flinch. Playing before another big crowd in Messner Gym, the Indians beat Salinas, 3-1, to advance to the Northern California finals on Tuesday against Homestead in Cupertino. The scores were 25-21, 25-13, 22-25, 25-22.

“I feel so happy with the way we’re playing,” said Tatum Souza, an outside hitter for Napa. “I’ve never played on a team this amazing. I’m just really proud of everyone on the team.

“I think that it really helped having the crowd. Also, we really wanted it more I think. We fought really hard and we prepared ourselves mentally. We’ve just been practicing really well.”

Souza led Napa (34-6 overall), the Monticello Empire League champion and Sac-Joaquin Section runner-up, with 23 kills, 23 digs, three blocks and two service aces.

The winner of the Napa-Homestead match advances to the state finals on Dec. 6 at UC Irvine’s Bren Center to play the Southern California representative. Homestead beat Nevada Union-Grass Valley, the Sac-Joaquin champion, 3-1 last night.

“Going to L.A. would be amazing,” said Souza, one of the top players in the Napa Valley.

Homestead is a No. 3 seed and has a higher host priority seed than Napa, the sixth seed.

“All we know right now is that there are four Division I teams playing on Tuesday, and we’re one of them,” said coach Scott Kostecka.

Cassidy Wallace had 44 set assists, 10 digs, two kills and two aces as Napa bounced back from a Game 3 loss and overcame 24 hitting errors and 10 serving errors to get past Salinas (24-9 overall).

Christina Fonville had 18 digs and seven kills, Kaylie Martin had nine kills, three blocks and two assists, Maggie Wessel had nine kills, two blocks and two aces, Shannon Oga had 21 digs, JJ Wagoner had 11 digs and a service ace, Katie Morris had four blocks, and Rachel Barbos had two digs for Napa, which was pressed by Salinas in the fourth game.

“It was a mistake on our part to lose that third game,” said Souza.

Napa scored the last two points of Game 1, winning it on a Martin kill. Napa had runs of 4-0, 3-0, 3-0 and 3-0.

The Indians weren’t threatened in the second game, unleashing scoring spurts of 5-0, 4-0, 5-0 and 4-0.

They made a run at Salinas, but the Cowboys held on in Game 3 after leading 24-20.

“I think it was a little bit of a gut check,” said Kostecka. “It looked like both teams were running out of gas just a little bit.

“It’s been a long season. Both teams pushed really hard. Our girls rose up and got it done. I think home-court had a lot to do with that.”

Napa was ahead 12-6 and 20-15 in the fourth game, but Salinas made a charge. The game and match ended on a soft shot by Souza.

“The hitting became a little inconsistent, but I think our serving and our passing is really where we kind of controlled it, especially in the first and second games,” said Kostecka. “It was something we pulled out from our gut and from our heart in this one — kind of the sweetest one of all.”

Napa was undefeated in home matches.