The girls water polo teams of Turlock and Pitman high schools, who shared the Central California Athletic League title with matching 9-1 conference records, were both victorious in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 playoffs on Tuesday.
The No. 6 Bulldogs defeated the No. 11 Falcons of Atwater by a 19-12 score at the Steve Feaver Aquatics Center. Over at the Pitman aquatics center, the No. 7 Pride defeated No. 10 River City, 12-4.
Turlock’s Liv Romeo, who was named the league’s Most Valuable Player last week, put on a signature performance with nine of the Bulldogs’ 19 goals. Annie Morrison and Cora Newell, the latter who was named All-CCAL second team, each had hat tricks. Addison Stempson and first-team selection Kallie Parker each had two, while league honorable mention Joelle Maggard pitched in one. Defensively, the ‘Dogs were as sharp as ever, as goalkeeper Reese Thomas, another CCAL first-team player, recorded 15 blocks, while the rest of the team had over 20 steals.
Turlock will now travel to Stockton to take on No. 3 St. Mary’s on Thursday evening. It will be a rematch from a week ago, where the Rams defeated the Bulldogs, 21-5, in non-conference action.
Across town, Kaydence Braley and Mia Peterson, who a week ago were both named to the All-CCAL first team, each put up three goals to lead the Pride to victory. Claudia Martin also helped the offensive surge with a pair of goals and a pair of assists. Meanwhile, Jayda Salazar, the CCAL’s Defensive Player of the Year, lived up to the award’s prestige by racking up 15 saves.
The Pride will travel north on Thursday evening to take on No. 2 Davis Senior.
It’s been a year to remember for each of the teams. Overall, the Pride finished the regular season 20-5 while the Bulldogs had a 14-10 record. Other All-CCAL honorees from the two squads include Turlock’s Reese Thomas and Pitman’s and Heidi Lancaster for the first team, Turlock’s Cora Newell on the second team and Pitman’s Danica Torres as an honorable mention.
Bulldogs, Yellowjackets fall short of NorCal golf tournament
The dominant seasons for the Turlock and Hilmar girls golf teams concluded Monday at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Masters tournament at The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton. In the field of 12 teams, the Bulldogs, the CCAL champions and section runners-up, finished with a 477, good for eighth place. The Yellowjackets, the Trans-Valley League champs and the section’s top team in Division 5, fared similarly with a 12th-place score of 554. Hughson’s individual golfer, Madden Nobles, and her round of 101 also wasn't enough to qualify her for the CIF NorCal tournament slated for next week.
The low score for Turlock came courtesy of Savannah Van Gaalen, who shot a 75 — three strokes over par. She was just one shot off of potentially qualifying to the next round as an individual, pending tie-breakers with El Capitan’s Ester Sheu. Reece Benjamin swung an 87, Brianna Cuenca finished with a 96, Frankie Ronveaux shot a 103, Kate Harrington finished in 110 strokes and Serene Klair wrapped up the scoring with a round of 119.
For Hilmar, only Valerie Quaid and Lilly Garza were able to break 100. Quaid was the team’s top score with a round of 90, while Garza shot a 98. Angelina Cruz shot 110 and Malia Arteaga shot 123. Hannah Van Dewark and Grace Vitorino finished 133 and 136, respectively.
Pitman girls tennis drops tight playoff opener
The season for Pitman’s girls tennis program also came to an end on Monday afternoon after they fell 5 matches to 4 against Elk Grove’s Monterey Trail in the opening round of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 playoffs. The No. 7 Pride played host to the No. 10 Mustangs after achieving a 10-5 overall record and going 8-2 in CCAL play, the only losses coming against league champion Gregori.
Pitman fared well in the singles matches, with Natalie Simon, Winmin Tan, Anjuli Avila and Christina Poulatian taking home wins. Avila and Poulatian each won in straight sets — 6-2, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-4, respectively. Monterey Trail’s Kyndra Phuand Han Do won the fifth and sixth singles matches, while their teammates swept the doubles competitions to come out with the win.
Hilmar volleyball falls in semifinals
While one playoff run for the Hilmar volleyball team came to a close on Tuesday, they have channeled their focus to a new one.
The No. 3 Yellowjackets were eliminated from the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4 volleyball playoffs by No. 2 Liberty Ranch in straight sets in the semifinal round — 25-17, 25-18, 25-19.
But because they made the section semifinals, they have automatically qualified for the state tournament, which gets underway next Tuesday. The 2024 championship brackets will be made available on Sunday afternoon at https://www.cifstate.org/sports/girls_volleyball/champ_info.
