The amazing run of the Foothill girls’ volleyball team kept going as the Falcons tacked another pair of wins on the board last week.
The Falcons fell to Amador Valley in their fourth match of the season, 2-0 in the finals of a tournament on Aug. 19. Foothill hasn’t lost since, running off 23 straight wins, including a thrilling 3-2 win over Amador on Sept. 19.
The latest two victories came against Monte Vista and California.
In a 25-23, 25-14, 18-25, 25-22 win over Monte Vista, the Foothill highlights came from Katie Salonga (49 assists, 13 digs, 11 service points), Paige Bennett (21 kills, 9 digs, 8 service points), Lulu Hoenninger (7 kills, 2 blocks) and Nisa Kincaid (5 kills, 2 blocks).
In the 25-18, 25-13, 25-14 win over Cal High, great play was turned in by Kaycie Burdick (12 kills, 12 service points), Kaitlyn Vogel (9 service points, 6 digs) and Maddy Snodgress (3 kills, 1 block).
Amador Valley is keeping pace with the Falcons, just one game behind in league play with the rematch with Foothill set for Oct. 17.
Since the loss to the Falcons, the Dons have run off three sweeps, taking down Dublin, Carondelet, and Granada 3-0.
Expect the two sides to square off in the East Bay Athletic League playoff finals and likely in the North Coast Section finals.
Pleasanton Rivalry Cup
Something new to the Amador-Foothill gridiron rivalry comes from the Pleasanton Junior Football League, with the christening of the “Pleasanton Rivalry Cup”.
The PJFL Hawks are the sponsors of the cup that was presented to the Falcons following their 12-7 win over the Dons on Sept. 22.
The trophy symbolizes the intense competition and sportsmanship that defines Pleasanton’s most anticipated sports event — the Amador Valley vs. Foothill football game.
Members of the Hawks, along with an administrator and a coach, were on hand for the game, taking pictures with players, school administrators and members of the spirit squads for both schools.
Foothill water polo
Over this past weekend, Foothill’s varsity girls’ water polo team played in the Crocker/Martinez Invitational Tournament and were able to win a pair of games.
Foothill scored 15 goals in the tournament and saw the defense cause 17 turnovers and make 25 steals. The Foothill goalies came through with 30 blocks.
Highlights were strong sprinting by Makayla Rauscher and top shooting by Natalie Williams, Dayna Mesuda, Valentina Avalos and Camryn Hobizal to drive the wins.
The defense got strong play Sarah Taylor, Lindsey Locatelli, Emmy Tsao, Natalie Piergrossi and Mikayla Esguerra held the competition.
Invites to the tournament team were Sarah Overton and Claire Alexander, and deck and technical support by Addison and Hailey Southern.
Foothill’s JV team also played in a tournament in Fremont last weekend.
Goalie Medha Nadathur had over 25 blocks in the tournament. Emma Saroukhanoff, Briana Gavril, Nishika Rath and Salma Dwidar each had a goal. Ashby Clark added a pair of goals.
Amador tennis
The Dons got another win, this time taking down Dougherty Valley 6-3.
The six victories came from Montana Parkinson-Lubold, Vedika Gowda, Neha Reddy and Megha Reddy in singles’ play, with the doubles’ teams of Sanvi Sharma/Aditi Deshpande and Alayna West/Bella Cheng also winning.
There is a big match set for this week as the Dons play host to rival Foothill. The Falcons took a 5-4 win when the two met at Foothill.
Falcon honored
Aditi Balakrishna, a 17-year-old senior at Foothill, was surprised by PURE Insurance CEO Martin Leitch with an invitation to the national First Tee College Scholarship Program during an event at the PURE Insurance Championship, which took place Sept. 22-24 at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Balakrishna is vice president of the Foothill Society of Women Engineers and president of the Neurodiversity Club. She also founded HappyArt, an organization that creates cards for Bay Area seniors, and she volunteers with First Tee of the Tri-Valley and Special Olympics.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
