A loss in the CIF-SS Division 3 championship game frustrated the Capistrano Valley boys water polo team, but didn’t wash away the Cougars’ feeling of accomplishment.
“I told them only two teams from our division got to play tonight,” Capistrano Valley coach Steve Yancey said Saturday after a 12-8 loss against top-seeded Murrieta Valley in Irvine.
“Really pleased (with the season) but it’s just tough to go down that way.”
Capistrano Valley, which reached the section final for the first time since 1991, had hoped to keep the ball out of the hands of center Hudson Rawlings and press outside shooter Ian Fleenor.
Rawlings netted three goals while Fleenor collected five.
Austin Sechrest also remained a positive for the Cougars. The Harvard commit scored four goals to finish with a school-record 425 for his career.
Yancey believes Sechrest ranks with Jeremy Braxton-Brown and goalie Eric Meadows when it comes to the best players in school history.
Mater Dei found more success guarding center Ben Hallock of Harvard-Westlake of Studio City in the Division 1 final. The Monarchs tripled-team the U.S. national team center at times, holding him to one goal en route to a 9-8 victory.
“The only way to control Hallock is to throw three guys on and pray to God that you shot block that night,” Mater Dei coach Chris Segesman said. “Harvard has been ingrained since he was a freshman to give him the ball in every situation.”
– DAN ALBANO
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Trabuco Hills girls volleyball coach Craig Moothart saw his plan pay off Saturday.
Two years ago, he brought up to the varsity level a group of sophomore players and let them learn on the fly.
Saturday, led by those players who are now seniors, the Mustangs captured their first CIF-SS volleyball title.
“That was our plan two years ago, to see how they would respond,” Moothart said. “Throw them in the muck and see how they will deal with it. Through that year, I don’t know if they won one or two matches, but they responded OK. They still enjoyed volleyball and all they did was want to go out and work harder in club.
“If you lose every match and you still have a joy about playing and working harder and getting better, then you know you have a special group and you sprinkle a couple of others in and after two years, their expectations increase.”
Trabuco Hills visits Cathedral Catholic of Diego in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regionals on Tuesday night at 7.
– DAMIAN CALHOUN
GIRLS TENNIS
The CIF-SS Individual Sectionals in girls tennis were held Monday, but there will be a one-week layoff before the round of 32 begins next Tuesday at the Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in South El Monte.
The eight lowest-seeded singles players and eight lowest-seeded doubles teams advancing from Monday’s sectional tournaments will make up the field in the round of 32. Those participants will be announced Wednesday on the CIF-SS website.
If a player’s ranking was high enough and it survived Monday’s sectionals, that individual might automatically forgo the round of 32 and advance straight to the round of 16, which begins Dec. 2 at the Seal Beach Tennis Center.
The CIF will announce Wednesday those forced to play in the round of 32 and those automatically qualifying for the round of 16.
– KENNY CONNOLLY
CROSS COUNTRY
Esperanza’s girls cross country team put together its most complete race of the season in the CIF-SS Division 3 Final.
The Aztecs defeated Palos Verdes, 72-77, for their first title since 1996. Their team time of 1:33:10 (second overall) was more than two minutes faster than all other county competitors.
Esperanza becomes the fourth team to possess the county’s No. 1 spot this year. The late run does not come as a surprise to its coach.
“Last year, we had our two best races at CIF Finals and state meet, and I expect the same,” Aztecs coach Rich Medellin said. “We’re not done. We’re peaking right now at the right time, and that’s what we are supposed to do.”
The CIF State Championships are Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Brea Olinda, Canyon, and JSerra will be sending both their boys and girls teams to the state meet.
Individually, El Toro’s Michael Biedebach, Santa Ana’s Jorge Suarez, and Orange Lutheran’s Jacob Miller earned spots in Fresno on the boys side. The county girls to accomplish the feat were Tesoro’s Amanda Gehrich, Segerstrom’s Stefanie Ortega, El Dorado’s Lucina Vincent and Laguna Hills’ McKenna Rinke.
– ANDREW TURNER, Contributing writer
SIGNINGS
Buena Park hurdler Aaliyah Banner signed with Bemidji State in Minnesota. Banner has twice qualified as a CIF-SS Finalist. Her personal bests are 15.32 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and 45.53 in the 300 hurdles.
– ANDREW TURNER, Contributing writer
