Coast volleyball team falls in CIF 1st-round playoff heartbreaker
The volleyball season came to a sudden end Tuesday night, Nov. 2, in the Coast Union gymnasium, as the Lady Broncos battled valiantly but were unable to finish off a talented team from Santa Clarita Christian. The Cardinals prevailed 3-2 in the CIF Southern Section Division 9 playoffs.
In front of a packed house, Coast won the first game 25-21, but lost the next two, 21-25 and 12-25. In CIF tournament play, a team must win three games. Not ready to give in, Coast Union battled back to win the fourth game 25-22. But the clincher went to the Cardinals in a tense fifth game, 15-13.
In her last high school game, Gigi Stoothoff led the team with 18 kills. Ailyn Casas chipped in with eight kills and four aces for the Coast Valley League champions. The Lady Broncos concluded the season with a 13-5 record after going 10-0 in league play.
Coach Pam Kenyon said the team “played their hearts out. They played some of the best volleyball of the whole year.”
Cross Country
Coast Union took 15 runners to the last cross country competition of the season — to the All-County San Luis Obispo High School Championships on a wet and chilly Thursday, Oct. 27 at Laguna Lake in San Luis Obispo.
“The girls race was rainy and very cold,” said coach Jim Hurley. “It was cold and miserable to say the least.”
On the girls’ side, Karina Mendoza finished 82nd in a large group (nine schools) in the Junior division. Her time of 24 minutes, 36 seconds, bested her time (25:43) in the Morro Bay Invitational in September. Vanessa Ramirez ran the race in 25:15 (95th), which beat her time in the 2015 All-County event (27:29).
Other girls’ times include: Fabby Gonzales (97th), 25:30; Sujey Gonzales (110th), 25:30; Maria Ramirez (114th), 27:21; and Maria Castillo (115th), 27:24.
On the boys’ side, top Coast runner Paul Butterfield ran the 5K in 17:35 (39th), nearly a minute faster than his mark in last year’s All-County event (18:34). Butterfield is still working toward a goal he set for himself this past summer of breaking 17 minutes. He’ll be back in 2017 as a senior.
The most dramatic improvement over last year for the boys was by Cesar Hernandez, who ran the 2016 event in 20:34 (118th). That contrasts sharply with his time last year in the All-County race of 32:46.
Other boys’ times: Colby Ratzat (138th), 21:10; Ethan Walters (145th), 22:10; Eder Ramirez (181st), 23:18; Alam Romo (182nd), 23:21; David May (186th), 24:03; David Nolan (187th), 24:24; and Jose Diego (192nd), 30:08.
“The competition this year in San Luis Obispo County was pretty stiff,” Hurley noted. “Paso Robles and Arroyo Grande are two of the best teams in the state of California in their divisions.” Hence, Bronco runners face an enormous challenge going up against those big, talented teams.
“In all my years of coaching,” Hurley asserted, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a colder, wetter cross country race.” On the positive side of the 2016 season, Hurley, who shares coaching responsibilities with Ayen Johnson, said it’s been a “long time since we fielded both a boys and a girls team all season long.
“Usually we’re pretty thin and we don’t have much leeway. So that’s positive.”
Hurley and Johnson only lose one senior to graduation in 2017, Fabby Gonzales.
Tennis
The last competition for the tennis team was a travel match at Villanova Prep on Thursday, Oct. 27, and the Lady Broncos made it “a really good way to end the season,” coach Tom Coxwell said.
“The highlight of the match was that everybody won at least one game,” he said after the closely fought contest, which wound up in favor of Villanova, 10-8.
The singles players showed well, including Ani Corbett who went 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in her sets. Alyssa Drew’s scores were 3-6, 6-0, 1-6, and Rebecca Odza went 2-6, 6-2, 1-6.
The doubles pair of Michelle Campos and Lindy Ortiz put together scores of 2-6, 4-6, 6-0; and Annika Marthaler and Jasmine Kelleher went 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Zoe Markham and Savannah Lyon came up with a 1-6, 2-6, 6-4 score.
Coxwell said his two team leaders statistically were seniors Campos and Ortiz, based on points scored and allowing the fewest points. The team awards dinner is set for Nov. 15.
“The quality of these 11 girls I coached was just outstanding,” Coxwell stated. Over the forty years he has coached tennis, he said, this is among the finest group of student athletes he can recall coaching.
This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 8:13 AM with the headline "Coast volleyball team falls in CIF 1st-round playoff heartbreaker."