San Bernardino puts end to Stanislaus State volleyball season
The Cal State Stanislaus women’s volleyball team made history Thursday night. Repeating its win over Cal State San Bernardino, however, was another thing.
The Warriors’ season came to an end with a 3-0 loss – 25-14, 25-16, 25-16 – to the 19th-ranked Coyotes (25-4) at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament in La Jolla. It was Stanislaus’ first postseason appearance in the NCAA Division II era, and the Warriors finished with a 16-11 record, their first winning season since 2002.
“Back at the end of spring, they all wrote in their journals the date Nov. 19, 2015,” Stanislaus first-year coach Mallori Gibson-Rossi said. “It was our goal all year long, and to make it to this spot and to be here now and had the season we had, there was a lot to be proud of.”
Stanislaus also entered with some legitimate hope. The Warriors pulled off a major upset on Nov. 7 by beating San Bernardino and ending a 29-match losing streak to the Coyotes.
The difference in the rematch was San Bernardino’s Alexandra Torline, who finished with five kills and a .278 percentage. She slumped for most of the match earlier this month. Each time Stanislaus put together a few points in the rematch, San Bernardino regained the momentum.
Lindsay Skadeland, who is slated to return next season, led the Warriors with seven kills. Jordan Harris had six kills and Taylor Massengale – playing for the first time since Oct. 31 – also had six kills. Setter Maddi Seidl recorded 17 assists and nine digs.
“The experience is going to be awesome for the future,” Skadeland said. “Playing the top teams in the conference like San Bernardino is always good for us and we are always ready for the challenge.”
Only three seniors on Stanislaus’ 15-player roster completed their eligibility.
Basketball
Warriors hang on in OT – The Stanislaus men opened their season Thursday with a 59-53 win in overtime at Notre Dame de Namur. The Warriors broke it open and led by nine points during the overtime.
Both teams struggled from the field, but the Warriors’ Christian Bayne and Kyi Thomas finished with 10 points apiece. Stanislaus, which lost seven players to graduation last season, has its home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday against Dominican.
MJC men net first win – Mason Washington hit three three-pointers en route to 21 points to lead the MJC men (1-3) over Las Positas 75-64 in the first round of Mendocino College’s John Hogue Memorial Tournament. Center Michael Hatfield scored 17 points and Joe Hamilton had 16, as MJC controlled the game with good interior defense.
Modesto played Lassen, a 92-90 winner over Mendocino, in the semifinals Friday at 7 p.m.
Pirate women fall – The MJC women trailed 26-8 at the end of the first quarter and couldn’t catch up in a 60-46 loss at Reedley. Akaysha Simpkins recorded her second consecutive triple-double with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 12 blocks for Modesto (1-5). Jess Green scored 10 points for the Pirates.
Soccer
MJC begins NorCal playoffs at home – The Modesto Junior College women (15-4-2), seeded fourth overall, open the Northern California playoffs at home Saturday against Las Positas. Game time is 2 p.m. on the MJC West campus field. The Pirates have not met Las Positas (12-5-3) this season.
MJC features sophomore midfielder Yaritza Arista, who’s tied for fifth in California with 15 assists, tied for ninth with 51 points and tied for 14th with 18 goals. Sophomore forward Jenna Viss is tied for 17th in the state with 17 goals, and sophomore midfielder Andrea Zaragoza is tied for 13th in the state with 12 assists. MJC’s sophomores have won a school-record 35 games (35-6-4).
“They are workers, absolute workers. They train hard and want to win,” coach Steve Aristotelous said. “I love workers.”
The Pirates, who won the Big 8 Conference title and reached the NorCal semifinals last year, placed second in the Big 8 this fall behind Santa Rosa. Modesto and the top-seeded Bear Cubs finished the regular season with a 2-2 draw last week. If victorious over Las Positas, Modesto will meet the winner of fifth-seeded San Francisco vs. 12th-seeded Diablo Valley at home on Tuesday.
Modesto is 10-0-1 this season at home.
Golf
Meza wraps up season at state – Sophomore Malina Meza, the only MJC qualifier, shot 89-95 – 184 at the State Golf Championships at Morro Bay. The Pirates, the 2014 Northern California champions who placed second behind Sierra in the Big 8 Conference this season, took fourth at NorCals last week and failed to advance as a team. Meza posted two 83 rounds at the NorCals in Lemoore and took the 12th and final individual qualifying berth via a scorecard tiebreaker with teammate Parker Pilati.
This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 10:33 PM with the headline "San Bernardino puts end to Stanislaus State volleyball season."