Thunder storm back to defeat Falcons in volleyball rivalry match
The Buhach Colony High girls volleyball team rallied back from a large second-game deficit to win the game and went on to secure a 25-20, 25-23, 25-15 sweep of crosstown rival Atwater on Tuesday night. The win moves the Thunder (12-9 overall, 4-1 Central California Conference) all alone in second place in the conference with a big match on deck against first place El Capitan on Wednesday night.
After picking up the first-game victory, the Thunder fell behind early to the Falcons (14-5, 3-2 CCC) 17-8 in the second game. Buhach Colony coach Andy Hill says it’s the type of game past Thunder teams would check out on and give up. However, Hill says this group of girls have a different mental toughness that was on display as they finished the game with a 17-6 run to go up 2-0 in the match and eventually finish off their rival in a sweep.
“Volleyball is very much about momentum,” Hill said. We have been known to lose that momentum and just tank. In the past, with teams here, that’s exactly what happened. They’d be down a couple points and they’d just tank. I’m super proud they have changed and have bought into our mental work. It’s rewarding to see because we’ve put in so much mental, physical, emotional work with this team.”
Hill says the Thunder had a breakthrough that’s helped lead to their current four-match inning streak. He said many of his players have worked on becoming better teammates, showing compassion when needed. “Everyone is a lot more mindful of each other,” said senior Kylie Key. “Nobody is really getting mad at each other, we’re just picking each other up.”
That doesn’t mean nobody is getting mad. Key says her recent run of success is fueled by anger. “It’s my senior year and I was kind of mad that it’s all going to be over,” she said. “I play better when I’m mad. I want to compete against everyone. Also coach Hill doesn’t give out very many compliments so whenever he does it means a lot and I always work for a compliment.”
Key led the offense with 18 kills against the Falcons. The senior recorded 24 kills in the Thunder’s last match against Golden Valley and 24 more kills in their win against Merced on Sept. 30. Kylie has had an awakening in our past two games. Against Golden Valley she had 24 kills and against Merced she had 21. She’s decided to become the hitter that I wanted her to be for the entire year. She’s had it in her, I think it’s a little bit of confidence, it’s trusting the coach and trusting that she’s good.”
McKenna Hill orchestrated the offense with 35 assists to go along with seven digs and three aces. Madelyn Zamarippa finished with nine kills, Alysson Mendivil added four aces and Lilly Wisdom collected 17 digs.
Hill says it’s been exciting to see the girls playing well down the stretch. “I’ve been doing this a long time and when you’ve done it for so long you get so emotionally invested in your teams,” Hill said. “I have daughters on this team and in the program and to see them finally get to the potential level I felt they had for a long time, it’s emotional. It’s more than excitement or having fun, there’s a lot of emotion in there. I’m all in emotionally with these girls.”
El Capitan 3, Golden Valley 0 – The Gauchos improved to 16-7 overall and 5-0 in the CCC with a 25-12, 25-18, 25-10 victory to extend their winning streak to five consecutive games. Jordynn Middleton and Yalizetter Lua both recorded 12 kills for the Gauchos. Sophie Fernandez added eight kills, 14 assists and two aces and Anushka Elwin added six aces, 18 assists and eight digs.
Girls Tennis
El Capitan 8, Merced 1 – The Gauchos won the battle of CCC unbeatens to move into sole possession of first place. Lia Garcia Del Castillo, Gabriela Garcia Del Castillo, Sarah Conrad, Mikayla Santiago and Emma Weber all picked up singles victories for El Capitan (5-0 CCC).
Buhach Colony 7, Golden Valley 2 – Lynn Hill, DiSierra Schmidtz, Sophia Vang and Serena Vang all won their singles matches to propel the Thunder past the Cougars.
Girls Flag Football
Atwater 20, Buhach Colony 18 – The Falcons stopped a two-point conversion late from the Thunder to hold onto the victory to improve to 5-1 in the CCC. Madi Hiler threw for 148 yards and a touchdown and Natalia Melgoza scored two touchdowns for Atwater. Hiler, Olivia Bell and Melgoza all recorded interceptions on defense.
Merced 51, Los Banos 13 – Antonia LeJarde threw for 234 yards and five touchdowns and added 39 yards rushing with another score as the Bears improved to 19-3 overall and 5-1 in the CCC. Amiya Brown, Averie Steverson, Ryann Perez, Amachi Turner, Aubrie Supinger and Madison Cabral all scored touchdowns for Merced.
El Capitan 52, Golden Valley 0 – Aalliyah Simonian threw for 186 yards and rushed for another 182 yards and accounted for seven touchdowns to lead the Gauchos to a victory. The win pulls El Capitan into a three-way tie atop the CCC at 5-1. Avnoor Bains scored two touchdowns and Mady Dietz, Bailee Moniz, Leyonni Atkins all added touchdowns for El Capitan, which hosts Atwater on Thursday in a key CCC game at 5 p.m.
Girls Golf
El Capitan 249, Merced 301 – Esther Sheu carded a 37 to lead the Gauchos to a win over the Bears. Mady Dietz also finished with a round of 46 for El Capitan. Maya Rodriguez led the Bears with a round of 54.
Buhach Colony 239, Golden Valley 281 – Ryen Cardoso (45), Alana Hamilton (46) and Amanda Englert (48) all turned in sub-50 rounds to help the Thunder defeat the Cougars. Chelsea Lopez led GV with a score of 53.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.