The flag football girls stayed busy with their preseason schedule this past week, while the volleyball and golf teams battled in Trans-Valley League play. There were some wins and some losses, with the golfers having the most success during the week. Following is a brief recap of the action.

Flag football

Continuing with a tough preseason campaign, the varsity flag football girls played a doubleheader in Danville on Sept. 11, traveling to San Ramon Valley High School.

“Despite playing really well on defense, we dropped the first game to the Wolfpack of San Ramon Valley by a tally of 19-0,” said head coach Steve Largent. “It really felt like a one score game, though, and really it could have gone our way. We turned the ball over four times which was ultimately too much to overcome.”

Leading the way for the Lady Cougars were Rebecca Wampler with 38 yards rushing and Reagan Baker with three catches for 23 yards.

Freshman Yesenia ‘Yaya’ Marsellis was promoted to the varsity and she had three flag pulls in the contest.

In the second game, the Lady Cougars faced off against California High and got on the scoreboard but still ended up with a loss.

“We cleaned some things up and bookended our night with scoring drives with Ari Velasco finding Jaz (Jasmine) Barron for two short touchdown passes,” explained Largent. “California High unfortunately proved to be too much for us on the defensive side and we dropped the game by a score of 26-12.”

There were some notable standouts for Escalon, added the coach.

“Rachelle Barker put in a great defensive performance with seven flag pulls and one sack,” Largent said. “Gabriela de La O Vigil contributed on the defensive front as well.”

The coach said there are definitely areas to improve but it was overall a solid outing.

“It was a great test against two very high-quality teams and ultimately we were pleased with our effort,” he noted. “If we eliminated our turnovers we may have seen different results.”

The girls were scheduled to be at home this week, with Mountain House due in town on Sept. 16 and the girls then hosting Lodi on Thursday, Sept. 19.

“We are sitting at 3-7 overall but our skills are being honed against high level competition,” said Largent. “This week is our last dress rehearsal before we begin TVL play on September 23 and we plan on setting the tone once league play starts.”

Golf

At the Escalon Golf Course on Thursday, Sept. 12 it was a victory for the host Lady Cougars against Ripon Christian, edging out the visitors by two strokes, 163-165.

“Going into the match, we knew it would be a tough one,” said head coach Chris Casazza. “Although Ripon Christian had a 1-2 record, their team had been posting really good scores. All of their matches had been close, and we knew our scores would have to be solid to have a chance at a win.”

The scoring four for Escalon were Genevieve Casazza at 36, Samantha Bruns with a 41, Rose Percey at 42 and Elizabeth Allan at 44. Also hitting the course for Escalon were Mia Fernandes, carding a 52 and Taylor Bruns with a 56.

“We predicted that our team score would have to be in the 160s in order for us to have a good chance at winning,” the coach explained. “We would either have to have four scores in the low 40s or a score solidly in the 30s to give us some breathing room.”

He noted that senior Genevieve Casazza “stepped up” and gave them the score in the 30s they needed, leading the way with her 36. Samantha Bruns also came through for the team with her personal best on the Escalon course of 41 to help secure the win.

“The girls wanted this win badly, and they were extremely happy to get it,” the coach said. “This was another example of nearly every stroke counting. I was very proud of our girls for using smart shot making to keep our scores down.”

He said they have been working in practice, emphasizing the fact that high risk shots rarely pay off.

“Golf is not a game where making risky shots to make up ground in one’s score is ever really a good idea,” Casazza said. “The win puts our team at 3-0 in the Trans-Valley League, 4-0 overall.”

Escalon was slated to play away at Hughson, Ripon and Orestimba in league action this week, looking for more solid efforts to maintain its first place standing in the TVL rankings.

Volleyball

Games at home and on the road were both losses for Escalon’s varsity volleyball girls, as they came up against some tough competition.

“Tuesday we played Sonora at home; Sonora came in hungry and we weren’t able to match their drive, unfortunately,” head coach Shay Beam said of the Sept. 10 contest to open Trans-Valley League play.

Sonora is new to the TVL this season. The match went just three sets, noted Beam, with Escalon falling 20-25, 25-27, 14-25.

“Sets one and two were close but we were unable to take a set away. We made too many errors, whether it was serving, hitting or passing,” Beam said.

Thursday, Sept. 12 the girls headed to Hilmar and started off strong but lost their momentum and the lead in the first two sets in the Yellowjacket gym, falling in a 3-1 decision.

“We did manage to pull off a win in set three,” the coach said. “We saw some good volleyball Thursday, Hilmar’s a strong team this year. I’m happy we get to play each TVL team twice, I’m excited to continue to grow our 14 girls on the team and see how much improvement we can make until the next time we can see both Sonora and Hilmar.”

Libero Emma Rangel was a standout on the road against Hilmar, playing some great defense and contributing 20 digs. Freshman Emma Strong had 13 digs and four kills.

“Both middles played great at the net with very minimal errors,” added Beam. “Lisa Murga had eight kills; Claire Barkus had seven kills. Each also had a block apiece.”

Also, Peyton Houser-Keaton had two blocks and six kills while Chloe Fraser contributed six kills from the outside.

The girls were slated to travel to Hughson for league play on Sept. 17 and host Sierra in non-league action on Wednesday, Sept. 18.