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For the first time ever, the North Coast Section is playing in an Open Division for girls’ volleyball, featuring the elite teams from the entire section.
The East Bay Athletic League is represented by a pair of teams in Foothill and Carondelet.
The Falcons made the most of the opportunity in the first round as the No. 4 seed, beating No. 5 Redwood 22-25, 25-17, 28-26, 25-19.
In the win, Foothill got highlights from Paige Nelson (32 assists, 15 digs, 13 kills), Kaycie Burdick (18 kills, 15 digs), Lulu Hoenninger (10 kills, 10 blocks) and Kait Vogel (14 digs, 5 kills).
Carondelet fell on the road to James Logan but will play Redwood in a 5th place game and a possible NorCal berth.
Foothill flag football
The Falcons closed out the regular season with an intense 19-12 win over rival Amador Valley on Oct. 18.
In a standout performance, Foothill quarterback Brea Olsen went 24-for-33 for 243 yards, connecting for three touchdowns to lead the offense.
Claire Young caught three of Olsen’s passes for 45 yards and scored twice, while Morgan O’Brien added another touchdown with three catches totaling 44 yards.
Addie Cortez and Jessica Gadd were also essential in the receiving game, contributing 71 and 40 yards, respectively, with Cortez leading in receptions with six.
Jazzy Simons was relentless defensively, recording 10 tackles to anchor the defense and keep up the pressure on the opposition throughout the game.
Foothill finished the regular season 9-5 overall and 4-4 in league play. Amador finished 6-13 and 2-6.
Amador Valley girls’ water polo
Regan Braga scored five goals to lead the Dons to a 15-1 win over Foothill.
Susan Swyers, Dori Selway and Olivia Ritter each had a pair of goals, with Kate Hopkins, Claire Kunich and Caitlin Brown all also adding goals.
Deepika Suresh had four saves for the Dons.
Amador football
The Dons got arguably their biggest win in recent years as they went to Danville and got the better of Monte Vista 32-28 last week.
The game was huge on a couple levels.
First, the Dons were coming off a heartbreaking 29-28 loss at San Ramon Valley and having to go back into Danville to play a Monte Vista team that has had a solid season was a tall order.
Second, the Dons and the Mustangs, along with California, are fighting to finish second behind San Ramon Valley.
In looking for the highlights of the game, one need look no further than quarterback Tristan Ti’a and receiver Anthony Harrington.
The senior Ti’a finished the night an amazing 24-for-30 for 405 yards and two touchdowns. Harrington was on the other end on a majority of the passes, catching 15 balls for 255 yards and both scores.
The Dons added 123 yards rushing, leaving the team 528 yards of offense.
For the season, Ti’a is 163-for-211 (77%) for 2,627 yards, with 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Harrington has 63 catches for 1,103 yards and six touchdowns.
Overall this year, the Dons are averaging 455 yards per game, with 291.9 yards coming in the air and 163.7 yards on the ground.
Ti’a leads the Dons with 586 yards, but there are four other backs over 156 yards rushing on the season. Harrington (252), Vince Maiorana (212), Ismael Duenas (178) and Chudi Obiekea (156) have all carried the ball well this year.
There is one game left in the regular season for the Dons, and it’s a huge one as they host California on Friday night at 7:15 p.m. The Grizzlies are 7-2 overall and 1-1 in the league. They are also going to be looking for a big rebound following a 48-10 loss to De La Salle.
Cal boasts a prolific offense led by a pair of players. Junior running back Jhadis Luckey has run for 1,558 yards and 23 touchdowns. He is averaging 9.7 yards per carry.
Quarterback Arjun Banerjee has thrown for 1,331 yards and 17 touchdowns with eight interceptions.
Overall, the Grizzlies are averaging 409 yards of offense per game, with 261 yards of the total coming on the ground.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
