In a hectic week, the varsity Lady Cougars volleyball team took on Oakdale, St. Mary’s and then took part in the Golden Valley Tournament.

“We lost in five to Oakdale,” said head coach Teresa Williamson. “The girls played great. Tiana Lopez and Brielle Arauza had four aces each; Brielle had 33 assists; Tiana had 19 digs.”

Kaitlyn Herrera and Hannah Murphy recorded 10 kills each and Melanie Smith had three blocks.

Escalon fell in the first two to Oakdale, 18-25, 21-25 and then bounced back to get the next two, 25-14, 25-16 before falling in the finale, 13-15.

Against a tough St. Mary’s team, the girls fell in straight sets, 17-25, 18-25, 22-25.

Kaitlyn Herrera had two aces and six kills; Tess Cosby nine digs; Hannah Murphy two blocks; Brielle Arauza with 10 assists.

Weekend action saw the girls head to the Golden Valley Tournament, which proved to be a great tune up for league play.

“We went 5-2, finished fourth out of 32 teams,” noted Williamson. “The girls played great.”

Kaitlyn Herrera received an all-tourney award for her outstanding work during the weekend.

“I’m very excited for our league to start,” Williamson added. “It’s going to be tough but we are ready for the challenge.”

JUNIOR VARSITY

Two tough matches saw the JV girls fall to both Oakdale and St. Mary’s.

“We gained knowledge about the game and each other,” said coach Krystal Rodriguez. “On Saturday we had the Oakdale Tournament where we won some and lost some. I feel like the tournament was exactly what we needed for this week’s line up with Tokay and Riverbank to start off our week.”

With the team starting Trans-Valley League play this week against Riverbank, Rodriguez said Ripon and Hilmar again look to be the strongest JV teams, but added that her team is putting in some good work to get ready for all contests.

FRESHMEN

Falling to Oakdale by a 2-1 decision, coach Morgan Jensen said it was a hard loss for her young Lady Cougars.

Mya Scott had five kills, Madelyn Page had eight assists and Madi Faria had three aces. Kailey Costa added 15 digs, with Faria, Liz Cortez and Kalynn Cavanaugh each with one block.

“Momentum was low in game one, we started to gain it back in game two with a change in line-up. Game three, we just couldn’t pull out the win,” said Jensen.

The frosh girls fell in the finale, 13-15.

“They played hard but they also let down on very critical moments which is something I think every team has to overcome at some point,” noted Jensen.

Thursday’s game against St. Mary’s was another close loss, 20-25, 20-25.

“We didn’t make too many errors, St. Mary’s just simply outplayed us.”

Scott led in kills with two, Faria had four aces, Gena Goodman, Costa and Cortez each had seven digs.