Escalon’s varsity Lady Cougars have had a whirlwind week, playing multiple games.

They faced off against Central Catholic on Aug. 21 in the CIF Foundation Game.

“We had a good start in the first set but unfortunately fell 19-25, 19-25, 13-25,” said head coach Shaylynn Beam. “Our fans showed up but our nerves got the better of us this set.”

The girls, however, were able to put that loss behind them quickly.

“Fortunately, we bounced back for our matches against Oakdale and Sierra,” Beam said.

They hosted Oakdale on Tuesday, Aug. 22.

“Our freshman and JV teams won 2-0 and 2-1, it was up to our varsity team to make it a program win,” Beam noted. “We won in four against a strong Oakdale team.”

Scores were 27-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-23.

“Sophia Martin had a great game with three aces, 16 kills and 10 digs,” noted Beam. “Other standouts were Lisa Murga with 11 kills and four blocks, Claire Barkus had seven kills and three blocks. Defensively, Macie Vickers had 10 digs.”

The girls were on the road at Sierra on Aug. 23. The freshmen picked up a victory, the JV went to three sets but fell 2-1.

At the varsity level, said Beam, it was “a dogfight for each set” with the Lady Cougars winning by two points in each during the 3-0 sweep. Scores against host Sierra were 29-27, 25-23, 25-23.

Martin led the team again in kills with 13, Chloe Fraser had six kills and setter Karisa McNeil had four aces and 12 assists.

Saturday action saw the JV and varsity teams heading off to separate tournaments.

The JV traveled to Newman for the annual Orestimba Tournament.

“JV played some of their best volleyball yet, going to the championship against Stoneridge Christian, Beam said. “They were 4-1 in a long day of volleyball.”

The varsity played in the Stockton Classic at Edison High.

They played Linden in the opening match and won 25-12, 25-20.

“Next up we played Lodi High, the first match we won 25-23 but lost the second set 18-25. In the third and final set we tried to battle but fell 12-15,” explained Beam.

They went on to play Sonora and Rodriguez High in their final matches of the day.

“We beat Sonora 25-18, 25-21 and beat Rodriguez 26-16 and 25-14.

“We have another jam-packed week coming up,” the coach added.

The squads were to travel to Tracy on Tuesday, Aug. 29 and then will be at home for a pair of contests, hosting Orestimba on Wednesday, Aug. 30 and Ripon Christian on Thursday, Aug. 31.