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Tough home battle for volleyball against Ripon Christian
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Every point is a cause for celebration on the volleyball court and Thursday night’s contest with Ripon Christian was no different. Here, Emma Rangel, 3; Avery Bartelink, 4; Emma Strong, 17; and Peyton Houser Keaton, 10, share a smile as the Lady Cougar supporters in the stands cheer them on. Marg Jackson/The Times

After nailing down two key wins on the road, Escalon’s varsity volleyball girls had a bye on Oct. 14 and then returned to the home court on Oct. 16. But standing in their way as they looked for another victory was a talented Ripon Christian team. The visitors took the contest in three, but each set featured plenty of back-and-forth action.

Scores were 24-26, 21-25, 17-25.

“We came up short again against Ripon Christian but we did do better than the last time we faced them,” head coach Shay Beam explained. “Chloe Green and Emma Strong led our offense with 12 kills each. We did struggle to find kills as a whole, though. RC had some tall girls so we had to hit around the block as much as we could but we just couldn’t get a ball down.”

In the first set, Escalon came out determined and did have a lead midway through the contest, prompting a time out from the Lady Knights. That helped RC get the re-set they needed and they were able to battle their way to the two-point win.

Keeping it close again in the second set, the Lady Cougars didn’t have quite enough to get past RC and they ultimately lost the match in three.

“There were some very good plays around those three sets but I just think between hitting and struggling in serve receive we couldn’t manage to take a set away from Ripon Christian,” said Beam.

The team plays its final two league games this week, capping it off with Senior Night on Thursday, Oct. 23 against Orestimba. Seniors to be honored are Chloe Green, Skyler Owings, Emma Rangel and Marissa Terry.

 

JV/Freshmen

It was also a loss for the younger Lady Cougar teams on the home court Thursday.

At the JV level, head coach Alyssa Cogburn said the team battled hard but came up short in straight sets, 18-25, 24-26.

“The girls played well, but couldn’t finish at the end,” said Cogburn.

The freshmen took a 17-25, 23-25 defeat, also falling in straight sets but putting up a fight.

“The team played an amazing match against Ripon Christian, who is a very strong team,” said head coach Nicole Bianchi.

Katie Giuntoli had three aces and 13 digs, while Sandi Rowe added four kills.

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Escalon’s Aniston Hunt gets ready to send off the serve during Thursday night, Oct. 16 league competition against Ripon Christian. Host Escalon battled hard but the varsity squad fell in three. Marg Jackson/The Times