Notebook: Three volleyball teams have section dreams; Gregori star Pepperdine-bound
Three Stanislaus District volleyball teams have advanced to Sac-Joaquin Section finals in Divisions IV, V and VI.
Escalon, Ripon Christian and Big Valley Christian all entered the tournament as top seeds in their respective divisions and played like it. In six matches, the three teams combined to only drop one set.
All three play on Saturday at Ripon High.
Division IV: Escalon finished the season as the Stanislaus District’s highest ranked volleyball team in the Sac-Joaquin Section.
The Cougars swept their way through the playoffs, including a 25-11, 25-10, 25-11 win over Western Sierra Collegiate Academy in the semifinals.
They will play No. 2 Sonora in the final at 4 p.m.
Division V: The Knights had a first-round bye but flexed their muscles in their first two games. They didn’t allow more than six points a game in the three-set quarterfinals sweep of No. 8 Delta Charter and beat a scrappy Bear River team 25-24, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19 in the semifinals.
Ripon Christian plays No. 3 Vacaville Christian, which hasn’t lost a set in all three playoff games, at 1 p.m.
Division VI: After earning a bye in the quarterfinals, Big Valley Christian defeated Turlock Christian, 25-14, 25-13, 25-13 in the semis to advance. The Lions are set to face No. 3 Forest Lake Christian (18-12) who beat Alpha Charter in the quarterfinals and upset No. 2 Sacramento Country Day 24-26, 25-17, 25-20, 25-21 in the semifinals.
The top two seeds play at 10 a.m.
Section girls team tennis: Gregori beat Lincoln-Stockton 5-4 and advanced to the semifinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I tournament, where they will play Rocklin on Nov. 8.
In Division III, Central Catholic is back in the section final after beating No. 8 Buhach Colony and No. 5 Merced 8-1.
The Raiders won back-to-back Division III titles in 2014 and 2015 but their most recent playoff success came in Division IV. They won the section title in 2018 and were runners-up in 2019.
The top seed in Division III will play No. 2 Vanden, which knocked off Oakdale 9-0 in the quarterfinals and Patterson 9-0 in the semifinals, on Monday, Nov. 8. The site is still to be determined.
Section water polo: The Turlock High boys water polo team beat Lincoln 8-4 and advanced to the section quarterfinals.
The Bulldogs (17-10) will play No. 1 Davis of Yolo (16-11) on Friday at River City High School.
In other boys action Wednesday:
In Division I, No. 10 Downey was knocked out of the tournament with a 17-9 loss against Woodcreek.
In Division II, No. 7 Oakdale advanced to the quarterfinals with a 12-9 victory over Christian Brothers and will face No. 2 El Capitan of Merced on Friday.
In Division III on Friday, Los Banos is at Ripon and Sonora plays host to Nevada Union.
The semifinals are Nov. 10 at Tokay High in Lodi.
On the girls side, Turlock (Division I), Sonora (Division II), No. 5 Beyer (Division III) and No. 2 Ripon (Division III) had Thursday matches.
On Tuesday, No. 10 Downey fell short in a heartbreaker to No. 7 Lincoln, losing 8-6 in double-overtime despite two goals apiece by Hazel Lee and Maddie Van Diepen and one each by Sarah Zuriligen and Lauren Pieczarka.
The girls semifinals in all divisions are at Johansen High on Nov. 9.
Section Golf: Turlock’s Sydney Streeter shot a 4-over-par 76 in Stockton at the section Masters meet, which fell just short of qualifying for the upcoming NorCal tournament at Berkeley Country Club.
Streeter was the low scorer among Stanislaus District golfers, which included Turlock, Enochs and Ripon, along with a handful of individuals who qualified out of the sub-sections to reach Monday’s round at The Reserve at Spanos Park.
Turlock (454) was the leader among local teams, ahead of Enochs (460) and Ripon (486).
Cross country: The sub-section meet is scheduled for Nov. 6, at Frogtown in Angels Camp. Top teams and individuals advance to the section championships on Nov. 13, at Willow Hill in Folsom.
Gregori volleyball star to sign Wednesday: Senior Kenadie Patterson will sign with Pepperdine. The 6-foot-4 middle blocker led the Jaguars with 163 kills and 103 total blocks.
Local soccer players going to NCAA Division I programs: Kylee Redman of Turlock High will stay local, attending UC Davis in the fall. Beyer High’s Leah O’Brien will attend Santa Clara.
