Amador Valley (20-8, 11-3 EBAL) girls’ volleyball completed the 2008 EBAL season in second place with a win over cross-town rival Foothill before a raucous crowd. Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Kinnard led the Dons offense with a career-high14 kills. Senior libero Lauren Sutter had 15 digs and sophomore setter Kelsey Williams had 14 digs to go along with 28 assists.
In the first set, Kinnard sparked the Dons offense with seven kills. Two consecutive kills by Kinnard broke an 8-8 tie to give Amador a 10-8 lead. Kinnard got two more kills to put the Dons up 15-10. With both teams playing great defense, the Falcons rallied back to take a 16-15 lead before a kill by Williams tied the set. But it would be the Dons who would prevail, 25-22.
Amador took the second set 25-15. Foothill took an early 8-4 lead in the third set, but Amador rallied behind a back-row kill from McPherson, a solo block by junior middle Jessica Atkins and an ace by Williams to cut the Foothill’s lead to 8-7. Junior outside Nikki Baker tied the game at 9-9 with an ace and went ahead 11-9 on a kill by Kinnard and a back-row kill by Baker. An ace by Atkins put the Dons up by 3, 13-10, but Foothill came back to tie the game with a kill at 13-13. The set remained tight, but the Dons held on and junior middle Grace Vickers ended the game with a kill from the middle for the 25-23 win. The Dons will advance to the North Coast Section Division 1 Playoffs.
Rage 18U ends season with 4-1 victory
The Rage 18U AC ended their season with a 4-1 victory over Delta United to clinch first place in league going undefeated with nine wins and one tie. The Rage had to win both of their games this weekend to secure the title with a 5 – 0 win over Fremont on Saturday, then the win on Sunday v. Delta. Rage will resume play after the High School Season with State Cup in the spring. For many this is their last league game with Rage since they are going off to College. Top Offensive Players: Sunday – Kelly Rowse got the scoring started with a goal in the first half. Tiffany Leung scores on a nice assist from Mikayla Swinkels. Jill Blandino and Megan Davidson score goals late on a direct kicks to seal the victory. Saturday – two goals by Katelyn Golik, and one each by Aisla Smith, Kelly Rowse and Nicole Rains. Top Defensive Players: Krista Bormann Jill Blandino, Mikalya Swinkels and Nicole Rains anchored the defense, with Megan Leoni in goal.
Jags clinch JV championship in overtime
In a thrilling contest played in front of huge crowd at the Sports Park, the Jaguars claimed the Pleasanton Junior Football League JV championship with an overtime decision over the Vikings.
After the two teams played to a 14-14 tie through regulation play, they went to an overtime tiebreaker. The Jags won the toss, took defense, then went out and held the Vikings without a yard on four straight plays. The big play of the series came when Nick Reyes picked off a pass on fourth down. Needing one yard to ensure the championship, Josh Miller got much more, pounding right through the middle of the Vikings defense for 15 yards on the first play. Three straight kneel-downs from quarterback Jack Moroney ensured the title for the Jaguars, who were also the regular season champions and finished with an 8-1 mark, while the Vikings finished 6-2-1.
Ballistic U15 falls to North Stars
Ballistic United U15’s match with SAC North Stars on Saturday had all the ingredients of an upset. Ballistic had already clinched their division championship and brought an 8-0 record into this game with the North Stars who were languishing in last place. In addition Ballistic were coming off a two-week lay-off due to scheduling and rainy weather. Ballistic opened brightly enough but were stunned after eight minutes when a North Stars forward struck a shot which hit the post and rebounded to a team-mate who scored. Ballistic seemed out of sync but they did manage to pull level before half-time. Colin Hartland surged up the left flank and crossed the ball for Suhau Kuo to fire hire home. In the second half Ballistic continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession but seemed unsettled by the narrow pitch with its fast artificial surface. They threatened to score on several occasions, but failed to convert their chances. As the game wore on, both sides seemed to settle for a draw and that is how the match ended. Ballistic, although disappointed, appeared satisfied to remain unbeaten, and SAC were clearly delighted to have shut down the champions so effectively.
CCOP 815 topples 819 team
Despite having only six players in attendance, CCOP 815, beat CCOP 819 by a score of 37-23 with a great defensive performance. Brian Henderson led 815 in scoring with 16 points and Ben Case dropped in a trio of three pointers to tally nine for the winning squad.
After getting out to the lead, 819, crept back into striking distance, but a nice pass from Aaron Silva to Henderson led to a three pointer and 815 managed to keep the score between 8 and 15 points the rest of the way. Grayson Meurrens pulled down 12 boards and Josh DiPiazza grabbed an additional six for 815. Leading an opportunistic defense, Nishanth Palanisamy and Henderson each had three steals to help limit the offensive chances for 819.
