Vanden restores freshman football

Vanden High School’s last freshman football game was 21 years ago. Athletic Director Matthew Bidou set out to bring it back, and that became a reality Thursday night, when the Vanden and Vacaville High frosh faced off.

“Before last school year was over,” Bidou said. “I started inquiring about fielding a freshman football team. It was apparent to me that the number of student-athletes trying out was just too many for a junior varsity and varsity team.

“Over the past two years we added several junior varsity B teams to offset cutting so many studentathletes. Principal Kristin Shields supported the idea, so we moved on to the District level. With the support of Travis Unified School District Superintendent Pamela Conklin we were off and running.”

Vanden traveled to Vacaville on Thursday for the game, which it lost to the Bulldogs, 12-6.

Girls Volleyball Wood 3, Fairfield 0

At Fairfield, the Wildcats overcame the Falcons, 2515, 25-16, 25-13, in a Monticello Empire League match.

“It was a good consistent win tonight, a team win,” said Wood head coach Paige McConlogue. “We kept our middles involved and they stayed solid for us tonight. “

Kenny Morgan had a double-double with 18 assists and 12 digs. Hannah Del Rio chalked up seven kills and five aces, while Paris Galbraith added five kills.

Vacaville 3, Rodriguez 1

The Bulldogs got a home win over the Mustangs, 259, 25-21, 26-28, 25-15, in MELplay

“We focused on serving and passing at practice on Wednesday and I am very happy with the improvement made today,” said Vacaville head coach Ashley Chappell. “We were 91 percent serving and passed a 2.3 as a team.”

The Vacaville offense was led by Emma Johnson with 78 total assist attempts, 38 resulting in a kill. Sammy Brown and Dani Rydjord led the attack with 10 kills each and Elyse McKinney had eight. Jordyn Moriarty led the defense with 16 digs and 20 perfect passes. Lili Ayala had three blocks. Tiana Zamora was 13-for-13 for serving while Moriarty and Johnson had six and five aces, respectively.

Vanden 3, Armijo 0

At Armijo, Vanden downed the Royals 25-8, 25-19, 25-10 to improve to 3-1 in MEL play.

“We started off on the right foot with good communication,” said Vanden assistant coach Christopher Co. “Second set we started slowing down and lost sight of our goals but picked it back up in the third set.”

Captain Mora Braggs had four blocks and seven kills with 6-for-6 serving, Kyla Chisom had 5 digs. Alyssa Allard contributed two kills, a dig, and 2-for-2 passing in serve-receive. Sophmore Soleil Sands, a first-year varsity player, had six aces, five solo blocks, and 2-for-2 serving.

Junior varsity volleyball Vanden 2, Armijo 0

Vanden improved to 4-0 in MEL play with a 25-20, 25-8 win over Armijo.

“Our first set was slow from the start to finish,” said Vanden coach Christopher Co. “Set two we dug in and played a good set.”

Breanna Davis was 12for-14 serving with four aces, two digs and 12 assists. Jada Cuffie was 13for-14 serving with nine aces, three kills and a block. Makenzie Lovell went 6-for-7 serving with three aces. Anaya Thrower contributed six kills and a block, and Sumerlyn Spencer added four kills and a block.

Motor sports Sonoma Raceway welcomes back fans

After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, Sonoma Raceway will welcome fans back to the grandstands for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR race weekend, June 5-6.

The NASCAR weekend will feature the 90lap Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race on the Sunday as well as the ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200 50-lap race on Saturday. Fans who wish to attend the Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend are encouraged to purchase tickets and camping packages soon as availability is limited due to social distancing requirements.

COVID-19 safety protocols, including face mask requirements, social distancing and cashless transactions, will remain in place for the June race weekend.

For tickets and more information, visit www.SonomaRaceway.com, call 800-870-RACE and follow on social media @RaceSonoma.