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Check out the Athletics Calendar!

 Girls Varsity Soccer - Last Tuesday the Bears opened preseason play with a 1-1 tie against cross-town rival Menlo School. The first half was a battle fought mainly in the midfield as each side managed only 2 shots in the early going. Katie Guenin opened the scoring early in the second half when she broke free down the right flank and scored a beautiful goal over the top. Menlo answered quickly, however, when confusion on M-A's defensive side allowed Menlo to get off an outside shot that sailed into the net to knot the score at 1-1. 

 

On Friday, the Bears defeated district foe Sequoia 3-1 in the first match of the preseason Burlingame Tournament. The Bears got on the board when Annie Harrier sent a beautiful cross to Guenin who finished for a goal in the 28th minute of the first half. In the second half Sequoia equalized when the ball was intercepted and pushed into an open goal after slipping off the hands of the goalkeeper. M-A upped the pressure on the Sequoia defense and moved ahead on a penalty kick by Guenin after Miranda Simes was fouled in the box. In the 27th minute of the game, Sarah McLeod headed in the third goal of the night on a corner kick by Kelsey Reed to put the Bears up by the final score of 3-1. M-A is now 1-0-1 in preseason play. The Bears next take on cross-town rival Sacred Heart at home on Wednesday, December 10 at 3:30 p.m.

Girls Varsity Volleyball - The 2014 Battle of Turlock will long be remembered - by the volleyball warriors who fought valiantly through a 5-set, 221-point match; by the loyal fans, outnumbered 10 to 1 by the raucous hometown crowd; and certainly by the Pitman Pride, who ended the Bears' fabulous season with a narrow defeat in teh CIF NorCal Division 1 Finals: 29-27, 23-25, 25-17, 23-25, 12-15.

 

While injured 4-year varsity veteran Katie Wilcox cheered on from the sidelines, her senior classmates Devin Joos, Ally Ostrow, and Kaitlin Tavarez led the team with some of the best playing of the year. Joos celebrated her birthday by tallying 27 digs, 23 kills, 4 blocks, an ace, and an assist; Ostrow challenged the Pride with 22 kills and 9 digs; and Tavarez had 18 digs and an ace. The juniors stepped up also: Leanna Collins had 15 kills, 6 digs, and a block, and Rachel Gerber shut down the 6'3" Pitman hitter with 2 crowd-pleaser blocks. And don't forget the sophomores: Kirby Knapp recorded a remarkable 67 assists, 15 digs, and 2 aces, while her classmates, defensive specialists Alexa Roumeliotis (21 digs) and Jacqueline DiSanto (8 digs), put in the best passing of the season and each contributed a service ace; Eliza Grover got in on the blocking and had a season-high 9 kills from the middle, and Kiana Sales' power serves included an ace to go with her 2 digs. But the team would not have been complete without the skilled and energetic commitment of sophomore Chloe Johnson and Lauren "the Freshman" Heller, as well as dedicated post-season support from juniors Tatum Maines, Shauna Sabet, and Kelsey Tonsfeldt.

 

Special thanks to the very spirited John Gerber, who donned a bear suit and whipped up the M-A fans by doing laps up and down the stadium stairs, madly waving the maroon and gold flag. Asked about the experience the next day, John said, "I wasn't going to let that home crowd overpower us.  But man, am I sore today!" 

 

The players and families are tremendously grateful to Ron Whitmill and Sammi Miller for their inspired coaching and support of the team. There can be no doubt that they are the reason that M-A is on the volleyball map. The Bears end their season (30-4) with a sorrowful goodbye to the beloved quartet of seniors, who will move on and continue to do M-A proud, both on and off the court.  The rest of the players are already gearing up for 2015!

Girls JV Basketball - The Bears started their pre-season at the Spartan Invitational Tournament. In game one, despite some early turnovers, the Bears defeated St. Francis 41-28.  Sophomore Natasha Auer and Junior Delilah Kline led the scoring with 12 points each. In the second game against host Mountain View, early fouls plagued both teams resulting in double bonus on both sides. Although Mountain View led throughout the first half, the Bears rallied to comeback for a 46-35 win. Kline had 16 points, Maddie King, and Jaimie Kirkpatrick each contributed 7, and Ashley Tiznado and Angela Langi each scored 4 points. The 2 wins pushed the Bears into the Championship game against Westmoor. Both teams had strong showings on defense keeping the score within a few points across the game. In the final seconds, Westmoor led by 2 points, but Kline, who was 13/13 at the line, hit 2 free throws tying the game with 9 seconds left. The Bears defended the ball well allowing Auer to score the winning basket at the buzzer for a 38-36 win. Congratulations to the JV girls and Coach Mike Owen for their first tournament Championship!

 

Girls Varsity Basketball - Last week the Bears opened non-league play with 4 straight wins. On Monday the Bears defeated Gunn 60-47 in their CCS Sportsmanship game, giving new head coach Markisha Coleman her first win. With seconds remaining in the second period, the Titans were up by 1. However M-A sophomore Megan Sparrow drove the lane, scored, and picked up a foul for a 3-point play, giving the Bears the lead 32-30 at the half. The game remained close in the third, but in the final 8 minutes, the M-A defense stiffened and the offense found its rhythm outscoring the Titians 20-9. 10 players scored for the Bears including Ilana Bear (12), Carly McLanahan (11), Sparrow (7), and Sally Carlson and Ofa Sili with 6 each.

 

On Thursday the Bears traveled to Sonoma for the Dragon Classic Tournament. In the opening round the Bears defeated Montgomery (Santa Rosa) 59-40. The Vikings jumped out to a 17-13 lead, but it was all M-A from there. M-A freshman guard McLanahan led all players with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. Senior co-captain Sarah Howell add 14 points and 3 steals. In the semi-finals on Friday, the Bears defeated Northgate (Walnut Creek) 46-42. The Bears dominated the paint throughout the game with M-A posts Sili, Greer Hoyem, and Sparrow scoring 21 points in the game. The Broncos responded by shooting 3-pointers and narrowed the gap. Ultimately the game came down to the final 10 seconds. With the Bears up by 3, I. Baer drew a foul and Sili intercepted the subsequent inbound pass to put the game away.

 

On Friday the team won the Sonoma Dragon Classic defeating tournament host Sonoma Valley 40-23 in the championship game. Defensively the Bears held the Dragons to 6 first half points. Senior co-captain Naomi Baer had 6 points and 2 assists and was named defensive player of the tournament. Offensively the Bears scored in the paint, driving the lane, and from the 3-point line with 8 players scoring. Sophomore I. Baer had 10 points and 4 steals and was named tournament MVP. The dominating performance lead to the new team motto, #StartWithAChampionshipEndWithAChampionship. This week the undefeated Bears travel to Silver Creek for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday, December 10 and to Homestead for a 6 p.m. game on Friday, December 12.

 Boys Varsity Basketball - M-A began its pre-season last week with 3 games, ending 1-2.  Traveling to Hayward, the Bears beat the host Lancers of Tennyson, 52-42. After a slow start, down 15-14 at the half, the Bears exploded for 20 third quarter points to take a lead they would not relinquish. Senior center Ryan Cole scored all 19 of his game-high points in the second half to lead the Bears. Lucas Fioretti added 12. Cole and Whittaker Jellins led the rebounding with 13 and 10, respectively. Back home, M-A hosted the always tough and athletic Irish of Sacred Heart - San Francisco. The Bears hung with the WCAL powerhouse throughout the game and were only down 6 at the half. However, the Irish slowly pulled away by winning each of the final 3 quarters by 2 points to win 58-48. Cole again led the Bears with 19 points, with sophomore Eric Norton adding 7. Saturday night, Palo Alto came to Ayers Gym and walked away with a 52-46 win in a tight, back-and-forth game. M-A had a 9-point halftime lead, but that quickly vanished as the Vikings  hit 4 3-pointers in the third quarter to tie the game at 33 going into the fourth quarter. In the final quarter, Paly converted on 10 of 14 free throw attempts to keep pace and finally pull away from M-A. The game featured 14 3's of the 31 field goals made in the game, 8 by the Vikings. Bear freshman Bradley Stillman nailed 4 treys in leading all scorers with 20 points, including 4-4 from the free throw line. Christian Fioretti added 8 points. This week, M-A competes in the annual Burlingame Lions Invitational Tournament, starting Tuesday, December 9, at 8 p.m. at Burlingame  versus Sacred Heart. Play continues Wednesday, December 10, and Friday, December 12 at times to be determined. 

Wrestling - This weekend the M-A wrestlers brought home 5 tournament medals. At the Lady Royals Varsity Girls Tournament, Overfelt, sophomore Chelsea Wilson won all 4 of her matches, 3 with pins, in the 107 bracket on the way to a first place medal.

 

Also at Overfelt, competing in the Taz JV Boys Tournament, Nicki Dulmage won all 3 of his matches, with 1 pin and a major, in the 132 sophomores-juniors bracket, and brought home a first place medal. In the 170 freshmen bracket, Niko Ozden, competing for the first time, won 2 matches, 1 with a pin, and took a fifth place medal.

 

M-A sent 3 varsity wrestlers to the Peninsula Invitational Varsity Tournament at Half Moon Bay and landed 2 medals. Bingo La Haye, wrestling in the 182 bracket, won 2 tough overtime matches on the way to the finals and earned a second place medal. Buster La Haye, competing in the 195 bracket, scored the first 2 varsity pins of the season and won a third place medal.

 

On Saturday, December 13, the JV wrestlers will travel to Hillsdale for the PAL Novice Tournament.

 

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