Pleasanton Preps: Foothill alum inducted into UC Davis Hall of Fame

Betsy Sedlak, a graduate of Foothill High, was recently inducted into the University of California, Davis Hall of Fame following her incredible volleyball career.

A 6-foot-3 middle blocker, Sedlak transferred to UC Davis from the University of Oregon in 2009 but had such an emotional impact on her teammates that they selected her as their team captain in her junior year.

Sedlak also earned All Big West honors three straight years including back-to-back First Team nods.

From 2009 to 2011, Sedlak amassed 393 blocked shots, putting her second on the school career list despite playing one fewer season than the record holder.

She also had a .336 hitting percentage, breaking a 19-year old Aggie benchmark previously held by another Hall of Famer.

UC Davis struggled in the Division I transition averaging just four victories per year in that span. But in Sedlak’s sophomore and senior seasons, the Aggies enjoyed win totals of 20 and 21 respectively.

Foothill volleyball

The Falcons moved one step closer to the East Bay Athletic League title, winning both of their league games last week.

The team opened the week with a 25-7, 26-28, 25-22, 26-24 win over Carondelet. Grayce Olson led the way with 22 kills and 11 digs. Ishana Ram had 56 assists and 10 service points, while Naya Williamson finished with 12 kills and 16 digs.

The Falcons finished with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 win over San Ramon Valley to move to 15-1 in league and 23-5 overall.

The highlights came from Emily Haskell (26 digs, 14 service points), Haley Roundtree (12 kills, 3 blocks) and Riley Francis (7 kills, 9 service points).

Amador Valley volleyball

The Dons stayed right on the heels of Foothill with a pair of wins themselves.

First up was a 27-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23 win over Dublin.

Mahlia Jackson and Sarah Rieble led the Amador attack with 17 and 15 kills, respectively. Setter Helen Xiao had a double-double with 41 assists and 11 digs. Jillian Wittenauer led the Dons’ defense with 12 digs.

Amador Valley also had 14 service aces, led by Abby Swindale’s four.

The Dons closed the league week with a 25-14, 25-19, 21-25, 25-20 win over Monte Vista.

Rieble had 19 kills with a .368 hitting percentage, while Jackson nearly had another double-double with 11 kills and 9 digs. Kaitlyn McFall and Rachel Malmrose protected the net with 4 blocks each. Xiao had another double-double with 29 assists and 15 digs.

Wittenauer paced the Amador defense with 19 digs, with Summer Reeves and Swindale contributing 9 and 8 digs, respectively.

The Dons had 11 service aces with sophomore serving specialist Collette Wogsland leading the way with 3 aces.

Amador rolled into the weekend and took sixth in the prestigious Stockton Classic, a tournament that included several Northern California volleyball powerhouses such as Archbishop Mitty, Bishop O’Dowd, Marin Catholic and James Logan.

The Dons first took on the Oak Ridge Trojans (El Dorado Hills). The Dons bested Oak Ridge 14-25, 25-17,15-10 to open the tournament. Amador then fell to Exeter 25-23, 19-25, 12-15 before beating Pleasant Grove 25-23, 17-25 and 15-13. The Dons dropped their finale to St. Francis 25-27, 25-23, 8-15.

Foothill water polo

The Foothill boys varsity water polo team completed a full week, taking third in the Aptos Tournament.

Foothill beat Salinas and Aptos and lost to league rival Monte Vista.

The Falcons also had a tough game against league powerhouse De La Salle, losing 17-5, but still got some big showings. Jesse Goodman and Nathan Williams had 2 goals each. Sanjay Menon scored once, giving Foothill a wider scoring threat.

Standouts in the Aptos Tournament were Williams with 9 goals, Dylan Weiglein with 5 goals and Ryan Weiglein with 6 goals.

Also scoring were Menon, Camden McFarlane, Ryan Xu, Giovanni Minnetti, Dylan Tran and Daniel Kim.

Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact Miller or submit local high school sports scores, game highlights and photographs for his weekly Pleasanton Preps column, email him at acesmag@aol.com.

Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact Miller or submit local high school sports scores, game highlights and photographs for his weekly Pleasanton Preps column, email him at acesmag@aol.com.