With Lady Cougar teams winding their way through the Trans-Valley League season, action saw two wins for the varsity volleyball girls, while the varsity flag football squad found themselves on the wrong side of two final scores.
Here is a recap of the recent competition.
VOLLEYBALL
On the road for both games during the week, the varsity volleyball girls faced Hilmar and Hughson. Each went the full five sets, Escalon battling for a pair of crucial TVL wins.
“On Tuesday (Oct. 7) we played Hilmar, earlier in the TVL we lost to them at home in five but Tuesday we beat them in five sets,” said head coach Shay Beam. “We knew we had to serve hard and swing harder and I think we did just that. Our serve receive was also nails in the match; our back row players did a phenomenal job.”
Leading the way were Brynn Caton with 17 digs, Emma Strong with eight, with Avery Bartelink and Emma Rangel each with six.
“Offensively, Chloe Green had 17 kills, Emma Strong had 21 and Peyton Houser Keaton had seven,” added Beam. “Setter Aniston Hunt had 48 assists and four aces.”
Scores were 25-22, 13-25, 15-25, 25-23, 15-12.
Thursday, Oct. 9 the team traveled to Hughson for what was termed “a very intense match” by Beam.
“Earlier in the season we beat them in four but we know how good of a team they can be and how consistent they are,” the coach explained. “Our girls had a lot of fun, they played together, they got loud, and ultimately we walked away winning that fifth set 15-13.”
Full scores for the match were 15-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-22, 15-13.
Kudos again went to the back row, with players doing a great job defensively in the contest.
Hunt and Caton had 13 digs each, Bartelink had 14, with Strong adding 15 digs and 16 kills. Green had 10 kills, Houser Keaton added five.
The varsity girls are now 4-5 in league and had their bye on Oct. 14 but are scheduled to host Ripon Christian in Thursday night action, Oct. 16.
Saturday, Oct. 11 saw the girls take part in a tournament, where they went 3-1 on the day. They defeated Weston Ranch 25-16, 25-10; Vanden 25-10, 25-10; and Bear Creek 25-7, 25-23; but lost in three sets to Buhach Colony, 25-14, 23-25, 15-17.
JV/FRESHMEN
A win and a loss went on the books for the JV volleyball girls this past week. They started out with a win at Hilmar, 25-19, 16-25, 15-13.
“Peyton Jacobs had four aces and 19 assists,” said head coach Alyssa Cogburn. “Arie Paulsen had six kills, Kinsley Villines had one block and nine digs.”
The team then traveled to Hughson on Thursday and lost in straight sets, falling 23-25, 14-25 to the host Lady Huskies. Villines had two aces in the match, with four kills from Lainie Harris. Jacobs added eight assists, Ronni Keo had four blocks and Tehya Pope had seven digs.
Meanwhile, the youngest Lady Cougars notched two league wins this week, said head coach Nicole Bianchi.
They were at Hilmar on Tuesday and won in straight sets, taking the match with scores of 25-13, 25-20.
“The team serve receive average was very strong, allowing our offense to execute plays even with some major changes to our lineup,” Bianchi said.
The frosh girls then defeated Hughson on Thursday, 25-23, 25-12, with the coach noting that “the team played well with strong serving and minimal errors” in the contest.
FLAG FOOTBALL
The tough league season continued for Escalon’s varsity flag football girls this past week, as they lost a last-second heartbreaker at home on their Senior Night, Oct. 6 to rival Ripon. Later in the week, they went to Sonora and fell by a lopsided score to the host Lady Wildcats.
Honored prior to the Monday night, Oct. 6 game were seniors Jasmine Barron, Yareli Cervantes, Peyton Merrill, Soraya Aguayo, Reagan Baker, Aislinn Ingles, and Gabriela De La O Vigil.
“We lost on a last second score by Ripon to go ahead,” with time running out in the contest, noted coach Steve Riesenbeck, who has stepped in to the head coaching role following the resignation of coach Steve Largent. The former head coach was in attendance, however, as he was on the microphone to emcee the Senior Night festivities.
Getting the scoring started for Escalon in the game was senior quarterback Merrill, finding classmate Barron for the first touchdown of the contest.
“Senior Reagan Baker led the way on defense with seven flag pulls and junior Rachelle Barker chipped in six flag pulls while sophomore cornerback Brisa Pitino had an interception,” said Riesenbeck.
In the second half, it was sophomore Yaya Marsellis connecting with Barron on a 57-yard touchdown pass for Escalon to extend the lead but Ripon got the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to go in the contest.
“Wednesday the girls made the trip to Sonora and nothing went right for them,” Riesenbeck said of the 50-13 loss on Oct. 8.
The two touchdowns for Escalon were a couple of bright spots in an otherwise tough game.
“Bretta Brooks (sophomore quarterback) found Jasmine Barron and sophomore running back Ava Girardi had a dazzling touchdown late in the game, which ultimately saw the Cougars fall short,” the coach explained.
Despite losing on Senior Night, Riesenbeck pointed to that effort as being a strong one for the team.
“The girls played their most complete game. They showed tremendous tenacity and grit. They are giving everything they have and not letting up no matter what the score is,” Riesenbeck said. “They have embraced our tradition of “family” and are playing for each other. No matter the scores, I couldn’t be prouder of this team. They continue to work and get better.”
The girls were scheduled to play at Hilmar on Oct. 13 and will be home to host Orestimba on Wednesday, Oct. 15, with the games scheduled on the soccer field. Varsity will play at 4:30 p.m.; JV starts at 3:30 p.m.
“Coaches remain happy with the positive upbeat energy the girls continue to bring despite the season being not what anyone expected,” said Riesenbeck.
Escalon’s JV flag football girls had just one contest during the week, hosting Ripon on Oct. 6.
The game was a hard fought 13-6 loss, said head coach Lisa Luis.
“Lola Duenas scored on a 10-yard quarterback keeper,” Luis said of the team’s only score. “Monique Coelho and Veronica Quiroz played really well defensively. Quiroz had three tackles for loss.”
It was a close game, highlighted by some strong Escalon efforts.
“We are playing better on both sides of the ball, just need to protect the ball better offensively,” said Luis.
