RV sweeps rival YC in battle for first

After watching rival Yuba City take home the past three Tri-County Conference titles, the River Valley High volleyball team has its sights set on making a big statement in TCC play this season. Consider the statement made. The Falcons shrugged off a slow start only to turn on the jets and pull away for a sweep over the Honkers in a battle for first place at a raucous Falcon Gymnasium on Thursday night.

River Valley won by games scores of 25-15, 25-20 and 25-18.

“We started off a little slow, but we gained confidence over the rest of the match thanks to some big blocks by our defense,” said River Valley coach Grayson Agpawa.

Cailyn Francis had 11 kills and three blocks to lead the Falcons. Arianna Khan had nine kills, five aces and five digs, Sarah Hankins added five kills, three aces and 10 assists, Alexis Topete chipped in two aces and 12 assists, and Elena Lucero finished with 10 assists.

River Valley (18-5 overall, 5-0 TCC) can close out the first round of TCC play with an unbeaten record with a win at River City on Tuesday and Agpawa is hoping the momentum will continue through the second round of conference action.

“It’s important we keep up the energy each week because any team like Yuba City and Inderkum can beat us on any given night,” Agpawa said.

Tianna Quintanilla recorded 12 assists, six digs and three aces, and Mia Apodaca had 10 digs and an ace for Yuba City (17-5, 51). Dannika Day added five kills, six digs, a block and an ace.

River Valley won the junior varsity match by scores of 25-19 and 25-19, and the freshman team also defeated Yuba City by scores of 25-11 and 25-18.

Sutter 3, Gridley 0 In Sutter – The Huskies improved their Butte View League record to 2-0 with a victory over the Bulldogs by scores of 25-8, 25-6, 25-22 at Reynolds Court.

Rebakkah McLaughlin had eight kills, three aces and 13 assists, and Gillian Tripp had four kills, seven blocks and 13 assists to lead the Huskies.

Macey Hill added seven kills and three aces, Julia Damborina chipped in four aces and six digs, Katie Anderson had five aces and eight digs, and Jaya Bains finished with six kills and six blocks for Sutter (7-10 overall).

Gridley (4-17, 0-2) was led by Mikey Curry, who had three kills and 10 digs.

Sutter won the JV match, 25-18, 25-16, and the freshman team beat Woodland Christian, 25-11, 25-15.

Pierce 3, Colusa 0 In Colusa – The Bears grabbed an early lead and pulled away from the RedHawks to earn their first Sacramento Valley League victory of the season, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-20 and 25-18.

Callie Muniz had a team-high nine kills, Cora Cherry had eight kills, Lauren Ornbaun added 28 assists and Ellie Geyer finished with eight digs for Pierce (14-7, 1-1).

Lexi Ramos and Caitlin Vaca each had seven kills, Abby Huskey added 13 digs, and Estefania Orozco finished with four aces for Colusa (14-12, 0-1).

Dixon 3, Lindhurst 0 In Dixon – The Blazers put up a valiant effort, but the Rams proved to be too much as they came away with a sweep by scores of 2624, 25-11 and 25-14 in a Golden Empire League match.

Danyelle Samudio had four aces and two kills, and Amaya Mitchiner chipped in four aces for the Blazers (1-8, 0-5).

Durham 3, East Nicolaus 2 In Durham – The Spartans took a 2-1 set lead only to come up just short in their MidValley League opener, falling to the Trojans by scores of 19-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-9 and 15-8.

Ashley Almond tallied eight kills, 10 assists, four aces and three digs, and Tiara Ceasar had nine blocks and four kills to lead East Nicolaus (8-4, 0-1).

The Spartans won the JV match, 25-22, 2516, behind four kills and two blocks by Jane Menigoz. Shaye Wininger had four aces and four assists, Riley Grigsby had three aces and three digs, and Kaia Diaz added four aces and two digs to help the cause for East Nic (8-4, 1-0).

Live Oak 3, Esparto 0 In Live Oak – The Lions took an early advantage and rolled to a nonleague sweep over the Spartans by scores of 25-9, 25-11 and 25-16.

The Lions (8-7) were led by Maliha Khan, who played well at the service line, and Jasmine Pamma, who had a good game at outside hitter, coach Tim Mar said.

El Dorado Adventist 3, Faith Christian 0 In Placerville – The Lions are still searching for their first win after a 25-17, 25-21, 2518 Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League loss to the Eagles.

Abby Snow had a strong game blocking and passing, Amaris Shettlesworth played well at the net, and Tess Scott shined at the service line for Faith Christian (0-10, 0-5), coach Hillary Hutchinson said.

GIRLS TENNIS Live Oak 9, Mercy 0 In Live Oak – The Lions snapped a twomatch losing skid with an easy SVL victory over the Warriors.

Simrit Pamma (6-4, 0-6, 7-6), Edith Men- doza (6-0, 6-0), Manpreet Kullar (6-4, 7-6) and Edith Brockman (6-0, 6-0) each won singles matches for Live Oak, which won the other two by forfeit.

In doubles action, the Lions received 8-0 wins from the teams of Pamma and Mendoza, and Angela Castellon and Gurleen Kaur. The other doubles win was also a forfeit.

Live Oak (8-3, 3-2) continues SVL play on Tuesday at Willows.

Wheatland 5, Las Plumas 4 In Wheatland – The Pirates edged the Thunderbirds in a league match thanks to four singles victories.

Singles winners for the Pirates were Ariela Mendoza (6-2, 6-4), Sarah Ormosen (64, 6-3), Ashley Wairimu (6-2, 4-6, 6-4) and Bailey Motto (6-4, 6-4).

Wairimu and Motto gave Wheatland (3-6) an 8-6 doubled victory.

GIRLS GOLF Marysville 323, West Campus 347 In South Sacramento – Samantha Thayer shot a team-low 64 as the Indians rolled to a GEL victory over the Warriors at Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course.

Megan Allen and Willow ArguellesRoldan both shot a 65, Shannon Folk fired a 71 and Shelby Hull carded a 74 for the Indians (4-2 GEL), which continues GEL play on Tuesday against Highlands at Cherry Island Golf Course in Elverta.

FROSH FOOTBALL River Valley 41, Franklin 0 In Elk Grove – D.J. Whiteley had touchdown runs of 58, 33 and 18 yards, and the Falcons blanked the Wildcats to improve their record to 5-1 on the year.

John Rubio scored a pair of TDs from 1 and 25 yards out, and he picked off a pass on defense. Peyton Grimes also returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown.

Matthew Rodriguez had two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and an interception, and Isaac Nava had an interception as well to lead River Valley’s defense, which posted its fourth shutout of the season.

The Falcons have now outscored their opponents 181-21 on the year.

Sutter 21, Colfax 14 In Colfax – Mario Ayotte scored on a 4yard run early in the fourth quarter and added a 2-point conversion to help the Huskies beat the Falcons for their first win of the season.

Cory McIntyre added a 2-yard run and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ayotte to help lead the offense.

Robert Armitage had three interceptions to lead the defense that was also bolstered by the play of Max Gipson, Dawson McLaughlin and Roman Resendez for the Huskies (13), coach Stewart Peterson said.