MUHSD Roundup: El Capitan, Merced cruise to victories in CCC girls tennis openers.
The El Capitan High girls tennis team opened Central California Conference play with a 9-0 sweep over Buhach Colony on Tuesday afternoon. The hot temperatures didn’t slow down the Gauchos as they were led by freshman Lia Garcia Del Castillo, who won the No. 1 singles match 6-0, 6-0 over the Thunder’s Lynn Hill. Gabriella Del Castillo won the No. 2 singles match 6-1, 6-0.
Sarah Conrad, Ambery Her, Mikayla Santiago and Emma Weber also all won their singles matches for the Gauchos.
Merced 7, Atwater 2 – The defending Central California Conference champions opened up 2025 with a win over the Falcons. Merced was led by sophomore Vasudha Shyam’s 6-2, 6-1 victory over Atwater’s Shayla Dominguez in the No. 1 singles match. Anika Gopenthan, Kaylee Villegas, Valeria Moran and Kyla Ens-Villanueva all picked up singles victories for the Bears.
Girls Volleyball
El Capitan 3, Buhach Colony 0 – The Gauchos began their quest for a fifth consecutive CCC championship with a 25-16, 25-12, 25-9 victory on the road at Buhach Colony. Jordynn Middleton led the way with 13 kills. Sophie Fernandez orchestrated the offense with 17 assists, two aces, two kills and eight digs. Anushka Elwin added 13 assists and seven digs and Colette Collings chipped in with six aces, 12 digs and three assists for the Gauchos (12-7 overall).
Atwater 3, Merced 0 – The Falcons picked up a 25-17, 25-18, 25-14 sweep of the Bears in the CCC opener for both teams. Atwater was led by Breanna Ellis’ 12 kills and Amara Rhodes’ 26 assists. Bella Villa added three aces and four blocks and Genesis Velasquez picked up 13 digs for Atwater (12-3 overall). Gabby Randol finished with four kills and two blocks for Merced and teammate Abbey Alvarez recorded two aces.
Golden Valley 3, Los Banos 0 – Zoe Gonzales registered eight kills, 10 digs and two aces to help lead the Cougars to a 25-21, 25-15, 26-24 sweep of the Tigers. Gizzel Jordan finished with 25 assists and two aces, Emily Green added 19 digs and Adamaris Leon had 10 kills as Golden Valley improved to 12-6 overall and 1-0 in the CCC.
Boys Water Polo
Livingston 16, Golden Valley 14 – Kelvyn Edwards scored five goals and had three steals to help the Wolves edge the Cougars to improve to 5-1 this season. Aydan Ramirez added four goals and Daelin Edwards scored three times for Livingston. Wolves goalie Giovanni Calderon recorded nine saves.
Girls Water Polo
Golden Valley 16, Livingston 6 – Jakobe Garcia scored five goals and assisted on five others to lead the Cougars past the Wolves. Olivia Castellanos-Colovich added four goals, three assists and four steals and Katinia Ybarra scored three goals for Golden Valley, which improved to 4-5 this season. Mariah Ramirez scored two goals for Livingston.
Girls Golf
Golden Valley 273, Merced 277 – Leigha Zarate sho a 52 and Chelsea Lopez carded a round of 54 to help lead the Cougars past the Bears. Abby Rosa paced Merced with the low round of the day of 48.
Buhach Colony 256, Los Banos 354 – The Thunder were led by Amanda Englert’s 47 and Alana Hamilton’s round of 51 as they cruised past the Tigers.
WAC Mid-Season – The Livingston girls golf team finished second to Beyer at the Western Athletic Conference Mid-Season Tournament. Briana Sobrevilla turned in the low round of the day with an 84 and the Wolves finished with 469 team points. Beyer won the event with a team score of 455.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.