A busy week on the court for the varsity volleyball boys – in their first year of play – saw them win against Gustine and take losses to Sierra and Ripon Christian.
“We played Gustine on Tuesday and won our match in three, 25-15, 25-5 and25-16,” said head coach Shay Beam of the March 12 road trip. “Serving and hitting was our strength, leading the charge was Carson Medina having 10 kills, Mikie Lourenco had seven kills and Preston Berhorst had five kills.”
Berhorst also added seven aces from the service line, while Lourenco had six, Ben Ferreira and Noah Gutierrez each had four. Helping secure the win with strong play at the net, notching four blocks, was Ethan Jacobs.
“Wednesday and Thursday we had some tough opponents, facing Sierra and Ripon Christian,” said Beam, who also served as head varsity coach for the Lady Cougars during the fall season.
Hosting Sierra on Wednesday, the varsity Cougar boys fell in three, 15-25, 10-25 and 14-25, staging a few rallies in hopes of pushing the match to at least four sets but the visiting Timberwolves seemed to have an answer for every attack.
Against Ripon Christian, it was another straight sets loss for Escalon and they had trouble getting any momentum in the match.
Escalon was quickly taken down by the visiting Knights, 5-25, 5-25 and 9-25.
“We have a lot of opportunities to get better,” Beam said, adding that the team was going to focus on working hard in practice and continuing to improve as they get ready for league play.
The volleyball boys – both JV and varsity – are scheduled to travel to face off with Hilmar in the opening game in league play on Thursday, March 21. The JV game, with head coach Nicole Bianchi at the helm, starts at 5 p.m., followed by varsity at 6 p.m.
Escalon will then be home for a couple of games, hosting Livingston on Tuesday, March 26, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., with Riverbank coming in for a varsity only match at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 28.
The eight players suiting up for the varsity team are Ben Ferreira, Mikie Lourenco, Ethan Jacobs, Aydun Melo, Carson Medina, Noah Gutierrez, Preston Berhorst and Frank Barrera.
