Escalon’s volleyball season came to an end on Thursday night, Oct. 26. The Beyer Patriots came in to Cougar Country and took a 3-1 win over the host Lady Cougars, ending their run in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 playoffs.
Earlier, Escalon had defeated Lathrop in opening round play on Tuesday night, Oct. 24.
It was a first round sweep for Escalon at home, 25-15, 25-19, 25-19, against the visiting Lady Spartans. Escalon head coach Shay Beam said Lathrop was a scrappy team and hung tough against the host squad.
“Sophia Martin had seven kills, Claire Barkus had four, Peyton Houser Keaton and Ashlee Conde each had three kills,” Beam said. “Peyton also came away with three blocks and Claire had two. On defense Macie Vickers had 11 digs, Sophia Martin had nine and Karisa McNeil and Aniston Hunt each had five digs.”
Beam said she was happy to see her team get the win in a sweep but admitted they were “lacking energy” especially considering it was a playoff match.
“Going forward we knew matches were going to be tough and we needed to play better and get excited for each point,” she noted. “Thursday, Beyer traveled to us for round two. They showed up early and came with a bus full of students for their student section.”
Having to travel just from nearby Modesto, it was a sizeable turnout of fans for the Lady Patriots.
“We came out of the gate hot and won (the first set) 25-19 but in the rest of the match we started to play hesitant,” Beam explained. “We let balls drop when we should have been going for everything and just started to make mistakes.”
After taking the 1-0 lead, Escalon lost the next three sets, 20-25, 23-25, 23-25 to exit the playoffs in the second round.
Martin had 16 kills in her high school finale while Lisa Murga had 13, Chloe Fraser had seven kills and Barkus added six.
“Both middles, Lisa and Claire, had three blocks while Sophia Martin had two blocks,” Beam said.
Setters McNeil and Hunt had 24 and 17 assists, respectively.
“Losing in the second round at home is not ideal, especially with the success of our program for the last several years,” admitted Beam. “But Beyer outplayed us on Thursday night.”
Escalon graduates three key seniors, outside Sophia Martin, libero Macie Vickers and defensive specialist Kendra Gwartney.
“On the flip side, we have 10 girls coming back next year who have learned a lot from this season,” Beam pointed out. “I think we know now that every game matters and if we want to win volleyball matches, we have to work hard for it.”
Escalon compiled an overall record of 19-10 this season and took second place honors in the Trans-Valley League with an 8-2 record.
