Merced Union High School District

With such a young team, Atwater High girls volleyball coach Lauren Leonardo can expect some ups and downs this season. That’s why Leonardo has little reminders for her players when it comes to what they can control on the court. Three of those things on the list are effort, communication and serving. After dropping the second game against Golden Valley on Tuesday night, her players got the message as Falcons went on to defeat the Cougars 25-18, 16-25, 25-21, 26-24 at Cougar Arena.

 

“There are some things that we can control as coaches and there are things that (the players) can control,” Leonardo said. “Those are not our responsibility. So I feel like just holding them accountable and asking our senior leaders to hold their teammates accountable is important.” One of those leaders is senior setter Amara Rhodes.

Not only is Rhodes asked to orchestrate the offense, but she’s the emotional leader and heartbeat of the Falcons on the floor. With four sophomores and two freshmen on the roster, the Falcons need a veteran player to turn to and Rhodes fills that role. “I try to stress to our team that we have to work on just fighting for every point, like every point matters for us,” Rhodes said. “I have a strategy to break it down into little games like first to five, first to 10 and first to 15. When I have to give a pep talk, I’ll tell our girls this where we give effort, don’t let any balls drop and we have to play for each other.”

 

The Falcons have as much size as any team in the Central California Conference with two sophomore middle blockers in Isabella Villa (5-foot-11) and Caylor Gibson (6-3). They have  strong, athletic hitters in sophomore Amaya Boykin and junior Breanna Ellis. The Falcons just need time to play together and gel as a team.

 

So far, so good as they improved to 13-4 overall and 2-1 in the CCC with the victory. The Falcons can compete with Buhach Colony, Golden Valley and Merced in the race for second place in the CCC behind undefeated El Capitan.

 

The Cougars dropped to 1-2 in the CCC despite 13 kills from Zoe Gonzales and Gizzel Jordan’s 11 assists, 15 digs and two aces. Golden Valley is going to have to find a way to rebound after tough back-to-back losses to Merced and Atwater.

 

Tuesday’s match was extra special for Rhodes who attended Golden Valley as a freshman and is still friends with the Cougars players. She was smiling and giving high-fives to Golden Valley players after good plays during the match. “I still love them, some of those girls are my best friends and I’m always going to support them,” Rhodes said. “But every time we play them I want to win so bad.” 

Buhach Colony 3, Merced 1 – Maddie Zamarripa returned from a sprained ankle to record seven kills and two aces in a 16-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 victory over the Bears. Mackenna Hill added 52 assists, 14 digs and four aces for the Thunder, who improved to 10-9 overall 2-1 in the CCC. Lilly Raye finished with 16 digs to lead the BC defense.

Merced (1-2 CCC) was led by Abbey Alvarez, who finished with 14 kills and 14 digs. Gabby Randol recorded nine kills and Mandalyn Moua and Kailey Arroyo both had 17 assists.

 

El Capitan 3, Los Banos 0 – The Gauchos (3-0 CCC) racked up 18 aces as a team as they cruised to a 25-7, 25-12, 25-12 sweep of the Tigers to remain all alone atop the CCC standings. Jordyn Middleton paced El Capitan with 13 kills and three blocks. Yalizbette Lua added eight kills and Anushka Elwin finished with six aces, 14 assists and six digs.

 

Flag Football

Buhach Colony 18, Merced 12 – The Thunder pulled off the upset behind a strong defensive performance to hand the Bears their first CCC loss. Ryen Cardoso, Anya Gieling and Savannah McGhee pressured Merced quarterback Antonia LeJarde all night.

 

Buhach Colony quarterback Lesli Gutierrez, who ran in one touchdown and connected with receiver Emily Gallegos on the other two scores. Buhach Colony improved to 10-6 overall and 2-2 in the CCC. Merced dropped to 17-3 overall and 3-1 in the CCC.

 

El Capitan 41, Los Banos 12 – Aaliyah Simonian threw for 260 yards and accounted for five touchdowns to help the Gauchos improve to 15-2 overall and 3-1 in the CCC. Mady Dietz finished with 116 yards receiving and a touchdown for El Capitan. Avnoor Bains caught a touchdown and returned an interception for a score and Evelynn Baeza recorded three sacks for the Gauchos.

 

Girls Tennis

Merced 5, Los Banos 4 – Kylah Ens-Villanueva and JJ Cosio picked up singles victories to propel the Bears (3-0 CCC) to a narrow win over the Tigers. 

 

El Capitan 9, Golden Valley 0 – Lia Garcia Del Castillo, Gabriela Garcia Del Castillo, Sarah Conrad, Amberly Her, Mikayla Santiago and Emma Weber all won their singles matches to help the Gauchos improve to 3-0 in the CCC.

 

Atwater 5, Buhach Colony 4 – Shayla Dominguez, Hallie Billings, Yamileth Rea and Jocelyn Castro picked up singles victories as the Falcons edge the Falcons past the Thunder. 

 

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.