Heading into the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 championship match, the Escalon varsity volleyball Lady Cougars have compiled a 31-1 record for the season.
They were a perfect 12-0 in the Trans-Valley League to bring home the TVL title and now are in pursuit of their third straight blue banner.
The Section finals will be hosted at Modesto Junior College, 435 College Ave., and tickets must be purchased online. Game time is 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5.
Get your tickets online at https://gofan.co/app/events/767925?schoolId=CA22540
In 2019, the team won the first-ever Section title for volleyball in the school’s history, in Division 4. There were no playoffs in the COVID-impacted year of 2020; but the varsity girls came back to win the D4 crown again in 2021, winning that last November. As a result of back-to-back D4 banners, this year the girls were moved up a division, into D3, entering the playoffs as the No. 1 seed.
Saturday night, they will take on the No. 3 seed Christian Brothers of Sacramento, a team that finished second in the Capital Athletic League this season. In the semifinals, the Christian Brothers Falcons took a 3-1 win over No. 10 seed Lincoln.
Escalon was pushed to five sets by their semifinal opponent, No. 4 seed Ponderosa, while sweeping both their first-round opponent, Pioneer and quarterfinal foe Nevada Union. Against Ponderosa on Tuesday night, Nov. 1 in Escalon, the host Lady Cougars won the first set 25-18 but fell in the second, 13-25. They regrouped for a 25-19 win in the third set, Ponderosa took the fourth in a 20-25 loss for the Cougars, and the fifth and deciding set went to Escalon, 16-14.
Christian Brothers won against Lincoln in Tuesday night play, 25-17, 16-26, 25-18, 25-23. Earlier rounds saw them defeat No. 14 Placer 3-0 and get past No. 6 Roseville in the quarterfinals, 3-2.
Escalon had not lost a set in the playoffs until meeting up with Ponderosa; the same was true of their semifinal opponent, setting up the five-set marathon match.
Thursday, Nov. 3 the team was represented at the inaugural Section Volleyball Championship Breakfast, hosted in Lodi.
“All 12 championship teams from the section, Division 1 through 6 were in attendance,” Escalon High School Athletic Director Andrew Beam said. “The girls enjoyed a great keynote speaker, speeches from the section commissioners, and gave a brief introduction of themselves and to the other teams in attendance. Coach Teresa (Williamson) did a great job with her speech.”
With a blend of veterans, solid leadership on the court and playoff experience, the squad will look to close out the section competition with a victory.
“I invite you all to come out and support our girls as they pursue a section title,” Beam said.
