Now in the thick of Trans-Valley League action, teams from Escalon have been busy on the court, the gridiron, as well as both golf and cross country courses in recent days. Here is a recap of the action.
VOLLEYBALL
For the volleyball girls, they suited up for games against Ripon Christian and Ripon over the past week, and the varsity squad ended up getting swept in both.
They were on the road for a Sept. 23 match at Ripon Christian, falling 14-25, 22-25, 20-25 and then were on the home court on Sept. 25. They lost that match as well, 12-25, 9-25 and 22-25, rallying but falling just short in the third set.
“Tuesday we came out with not enough energy and hustle to be competitive on the court,” head coach Shay Beam said of the Sept. 23 road game. “I know the performance was a one off and I am very much looking forward to playing them (RC) again in a few weeks.”
The coach said her servers did well, with Marissa Terry and Riley Titsworth each notching four aces. Emma Strong had nine kills and Chole Green added six.
“Unfortunately, our defense really struggled to get it done,” Beam said.
The schedule didn’t get any easier, as Escalon welcomed the Ripon Indians to the Cougar Dome on Sept. 25; Ripon came in undefeated in league. They swept to the 3-0 win to keep their TVL record perfect.
“We had more energy and hustle but Ripon has some strong hitters and we were unable to get in front of them,” Beam explained. “The third set we found some energy and fire so it was a fun one but we started too late.”
The outsides did get some kills, Green had eight on the night and Strong had six.
“I’d also like to shout out our setter, Aniston Hunt,” the coach noted. “As a junior she just surpassed 1000 assists throughout her high school career.”
Escalon was scheduled to play at Orestimba on Sept. 30 and return to the home court for a Thursday, Oct. 2 match against Sonora.
JV/FRESHMEN
After taking a loss on the road at Ripon Christian, the JV volleyball girls came back with a solid effort on the home court, defeating Ripon on Thursday.
At RC, it was a closely contested match, Escalon ultimately falling 23-25, 19-25.
The girls regrouped and won in straight sets when they hosted Ripon on Sept. 25, sweeping to a 25-16, 25-13 victory.
The freshman girls took the opening set against Ripon Christian 25-21 in their first action of the week, but then fell in the next two, 20-25, 13-15, to lose the league match by a 2-1 final. Like their JV counterparts, however, the freshmen were able to get a win at home later in the week, as they defeated visiting Ripon 25-10, 25-2 on Sept. 25.
FLAG FOOTBALL
In a tough week for the varsity flag football girls, they lost in a hard-fought game, 31-24, to Sonora on Sept. 22. The game also saw an ejection of their head coach and ultimately resulted in three-game suspensions for the head coach and assistant coach. Head coach Steve Largent also tendered his resignation; assistant coach Steve Riesenbeck is slated to step in as the interim head coach once his three-game suspension – which began with the Wednesday, Sept. 24 contest – is complete.
On the field against Sonora, touchdowns were scored by Jasmine Barron, Georgia Northcutt, Yesenia ‘Yaya’ Marsellis and Kenley Koops. Quarterback Bretta Brooks tossed all four touchdown passes. Kenadie Baker paced the team in tackles with seven while Rachelle Barker had six.
Wednesday, Sept. 24, with JV head coach Lisa Luis and assistant JV coach Dirk Northcutt taking over the varsity reins, the team ran into a very physical Hilmar squad and took a 20-0 loss at home. Brooks threw for 97 yards, completing 10 passes, but none of them went for a score.
Barker had seven tackles on the afternoon, Reagan Baker added five.
The JV girls came away with a 14-0 victory against Hilmar on Sept. 24.
The flag football girls were scheduled to be back on the home field, hosting Hughson on Oct. 1.
GOLF
In action Monday, Sept. 22, the golf girls played in the TVL midseason tournament at Micke Grove Golf Course in Lodi. The varsity squad was in fourth place in league heading into the tournament, behind Ripon Christian.
“Having lost to RC earlier in the season by just a few strokes, we had our sights set on beating them in the tournament with the hopes of moving up in the standings and putting ourselves in position to grab a team playoff berth,” said head coach Chris Casazza. “In the end, we ended up fourth out of the seven TVL schools, just behind RC. That puts us in a tough spot, but with some key wins in the second half, and a good showing at the TVL end of the season tournament, we still have a shot at a playoff berth.”
Top four for Escalon at the midseason competition were Elizabeth ‘Lizzy’ Allan at 94; Samantha Bruns, 111; Taylor Bruns, 118; Olivia Aceves, 132. Playing but not in the top four were Areli Herrera, 143; Sofia Da Silva, 158.
“Elizabeth’s 94 was good enough for fourth in the tournament; she did awesome,” Casazza said.
Thursday, Sept. 25 the girls were away at Hilmar, playing at the Turlock Golf and Country Club.
“Hilmar is the top team in the TVL and we knew going into this match that it would be tough to compete with them,” noted Casazza. “They are a great team.”
Final score was Hilmar 180, Escalon 237 with Allan again leading the way with a 49 for the Lady Cougars. She was followed by Taylor Bruns, 58; Samantha Bruns, 65; Aceves, 65. Not in the top four but carding scores were Leeah Nelson, 68; Nadia Graham, 77.
This week, the girls were scheduled to play at the Yellowjacket Invitational, 18-hole competition on Monday, Sept. 29 and then were to host Ripon Christian at River Oaks Golf Course on Sept. 30.
CROSS COUNTRY
A team trip to Sonora for the Escalon cross country runners saw some strong performances in the second Trans-Valley League meet on Sept. 24.
“The team did well and most of the runners had personal records and season best times,” said head coach Arend Jones. “In the varsity girls race, junior Victoria Calderon finished first with a time of 23:37. In the boys varsity race, sophomore Alexander Girardi finished first with a time of 20:10 followed close behind by Ethan Young at 20:22.”
Junior Ashley Flores was first across the line for Escalon in the JV girls race, a two-mile event, with a time of 19:16. Finishing first for Escalon in the JV boys race, clocking a time of 13:53, was sophomore Mateo Estrada.
The team has a break from formal competition until they take part in the Hughson Supercross in mid-October. But, said Jones, that doesn’t mean the work stops.
“This Saturday, the team will travel to Santa Cruz for a fun training run along the beach,” the coach explained.
