Playing a trio of non-league games to close out their preseason schedule, two went on the books as losses while the Escalon varsity volleyball girls salvaged the final contest to go 2-1 for the week.

The girls traveled to El Capitan on Tuesday, Sept. 2 and came up short, getting swept on the road 16-25, 23-25, 22-25.

“We just came out flat,” admitted head coach Shay Beam. “They were a good team but we could have played better. Our two outsides did very well putting balls away, Emma Strong had 15 kills and Chloe Green had 10 kills but unfortunately our defense struggled to pick up balls.”

Wednesday, Sept. 3, the girls took the home court, hosting Turlock.

They lost a 3-1 decision to the visitors.

“Emma Strong and Chloe Green each had 13 kills apiece but we couldn’t manage to take care of businesses,” the coach admitted. “We lacked a sense of urgency Wednesday night and lost in four sets.”

Determined not to go 0-for-the-week, the varsity squad traveled to nearby Oakdale on Thursday, Sept. 4 to close out the hectic week.

“The girls came out hot and fired up,” said Beam, with the varsity earning the 3-1 win over host Oakdale. “We took care of business in sets one and two but got a little complacent in set three. Set four we were back in it and took the set quickly.”

Scores were 25-15, 25-17, 16-25, 25-13.

Leading the way at Oakdale were Emma Rangel with 17 digs, Brynn Caton with 14 digs, with Emma Strong and Chloe Green each notching 13 kills. Setter Aniston Hunt had 40 assists and three aces.

“It was a great team win Thursday night,” Beam said.

The girls were scheduled to be on the road for the Trans-Valley Leage opener this week at Sonora and then host Hilmar on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m.

JV/Freshmen

For the JV girls, they lost at home to Turlock on Wednesday, falling in three sets, 22-25, 25-18, 12-15. They bounced back with a road win at Oakdale on Thursday, winning in straight sets, 25-16, 25-20. Information regarding the match at El Capitan was not available at press time.

The freshmen fell at El Capitan, 16-25, 18-25.

Sandi Rowe and Lainie Harris each had five kills with Aubrey Anderson-Castro recording nine assists.

“This was a tough team to play, we started off with low energy and good teams will always capitalize against that,” said frosh head coach Nicole Bianchi.

At home against Turlock on Sept., 3, it was a 16-25, 20-25 loss for Escalon but there were some bright spots.

“Ryan Killingsworth had a great night in serve receive, Aubrey Anderson-Castro had seven assists and Katie Giuntoli had six digs,” Bianchi explained. “While our defense and serve receive were strong, we had too many errors at the net.”

The frosh girls closed out the week with a 19-25, 23-25 loss at Oakdale.

“All in all, a tough week of matches which we learned from and will always help us get better,” Bianchi noted.