In Trans-Valley League action this past week, Escalon’s varsity volleyball girls took a win over Hughson, then defeated Big Valley in non-league play.

They beat Hughson by a 3-1 final; scores were 25-20, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22.

Sophia Martin had 13 kills on the night in the TVL match, Peyton Houser-Keaton, Chloe Fraser and Lisa Murga added five kills apiece. Murga also had three blocks, Houser-Keaton had two.

“On defense Macie Vickers had 21 digs, and Sophia had 10,” added head coach Shay Beam. “Setter Karisa McNeil had 11 digs and 19 assists while Aniston Hunt had 10 assists.”

That game started the week off for the girls on Sept. 18 and they doubled back on Tuesday, Sept. 19 with another four-set match, this one against Big Valley. Scores were 25-21, 25-11, 22-25, 25-14.

“This week we really got to show off some skills on offense, outsides Sophia Martin had 15 kills and Chloe Fraser had nine kills,” noted Beam. “Peyton Houser Keaton had five kills, and our middles Lisa Murga and Claire Barkus had four kills each.”

Setters did a great job distributing the ball, said Beam, with Hunt notching 16 assists and McNeil with 15.

“Although offensively we were able to have some fun, we lacked consistency and became complacent in the third sets this week,” Beam said, adding that the team pulled it back together to close out each opponent in four sets.

JV

It was a busy week for the JV team, under head coach Alyssa Cogburn. The squad defeated Hughson in TVL play, 25-15, 25-14 and topped Big Valley in straight sets, 25-14, 25-15. Lesley Cardenas had four aces and eight assists, Gracie Airola had five kills and Madi Babasa added five digs against Hughson.

In the Big Valley game, Babasa and Marissa Terry had six aces each, Marina Franzia had six assists, Emma Rangel and Babasa had six digs apiece and Jayci Trimble and Chloe Green each had three kills.

They then had a busy Saturday, taking third place in the Stockton Classic Tournament on Sept. 23.

“The girls played so well all day and showed how much they have improved so far this season,” Cogburn said.

Freshmen

In their lone game of the week, the freshman girls were 25-13, 25-20 winners over league foe Hughson.

Arianna Velasco had five aces, Samari Webster added six assists while Emma Kneiss had two kills and Brynn Caton had five digs.

“We made a lot of errors during the match, but a lot of those errors were aggressive and not without thought or reason,” said head coach Morgan Gomez. “I’m really proud of the progression this team has seen in their mindset and strategy. They’re tapping into the next level of the sport and it’s really exciting to see those light bulbs go off mid-match and see what they attempt to do during tough plays or long rallies.”