The Trans-Valley League and Valley Foothill League (golf) has begun action for all Bruin sports but football. Following are some results and highlights from recent conference and nonconference action. Football kicks off league play Friday night on the road in Newman, facing Orestimba.
Cross Country
The Bruins raced at the Lowell Invitational at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Saturday and came home with a team career best five medalists on the 2.93-mile course. Mikayla Florez led the way with a fifth place finish against some of the state's best runners at 18 minutes, nine seconds.
The freshman boys placed fifth out of nine competing teams in their division. The team was paced by Ruben Paradez, who ended one place shy of a medal.
The frosh-soph Bruin girls ended fifth as well, after medalist performances by Haley Richardson (fifth) and Sabrina Garcia (10th).
The varsity boys fought to a ninth place finish among 19 teams. Adrian Salazar and Luis Figueroa both medaled while Sam Gong and Somomon Kumar ran tough races to shown improvement.
The Bruins return to conference action on Sept. 26 during the second TVL meet at Tuolumne Regional Park in Modesto.
Volleyball
The Bruins (12-4) carried the momentum of a stellar preseason into a hard-fought match with Escalon on Sept. 13, where the reigning champion Lady Cougars stole a 3-0 win.
With standout middle blocker Kendra Garcia still nursing an ankle injury, the Lady Bruins struggled at the net to stop the likes of Cassidy Caton (23 kills) and Krysten Rose (four blocks). Brittany Cody played terrific and had 12 digs for the Bruins while Allie Heredia dished out 16 assists. Raine Gallagher added five kills while Karina Cajero managed two blocks and Ericka Cisneros three aces.
"We played them tough for the first match," Riverbank coach Lisa Mila said. "We made a few unforced errors towards the end of the game and seized up and let them come back for the win.
"We just didn't adjust, like we have been doing. We saw their weakness and couldn't move the ball around. Once we got frustrated we lost control and Escalon capitalized on us mentally."
Riverbank played at Orestimba on Tuesday, though results were not available at press time. The team hosts Hilmar on Thursday.
Girls Golf
The Bruins (2-3) landed their first two wins of the VFL season in back-to-back contests by besting host Ripon 197-201 at the Jack Tone Golf Course and edging Linden 171-185 at the Escalon Golf Course.
At Ripon, Tori Sandoval led the way with a 47-stroke day while Emily Blevins shot a 49. Gabby Macedo carded a 50 while Olivia Luu (51), Yolanda Sandoval (56) and Janelle Luu (58) also played well.
The Bruins hosted unbeaten league favorite, Bret Harte (5-0), on Tuesday, though results were not available at press time. The Bruins are at Escalon (4-1) on Thursday.
Boys Soccer
It took only two games for Riverbank High's varsity soccer team to climb to sole possession of first place in the league standings. The Bruins (2-0) are the only TVL team with a perfect record after outlasting Escalon 3-2 on Sept. 10 and blasting Orestimba 8-0 two days later.
Since Escalon beat Ripon and Hilmar and Hughson tied against each other, the Bruins again emerge as the clear favorite of the TVL.
They pressed that point emphatically during the win over Orestimba, where only 11 Warrior shots were directed at the Bruin goal and only eight were close enough to garner saves for Rafael Ramirez (six) and Kenny Veliz (two). Veliz and Jonathan Rodriguez (assist) scored two goals each for the Bruins while Armando Rodriguez, Quintero Rodrigo, Ivan Vigil and Oscar Jimenez all netted scores.
The Bruins hosted Hilmar on Monday, though results were not available at press time. The team has a bye today, Sept. 19, and plays host Ripon on Sept. 24.
Cross Country
The Bruins raced at the Lowell Invitational at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Saturday and came home with a team career best five medalists on the 2.93-mile course. Mikayla Florez led the way with a fifth place finish against some of the state's best runners at 18 minutes, nine seconds.
The freshman boys placed fifth out of nine competing teams in their division. The team was paced by Ruben Paradez, who ended one place shy of a medal.
The frosh-soph Bruin girls ended fifth as well, after medalist performances by Haley Richardson (fifth) and Sabrina Garcia (10th).
The varsity boys fought to a ninth place finish among 19 teams. Adrian Salazar and Luis Figueroa both medaled while Sam Gong and Somomon Kumar ran tough races to shown improvement.
The Bruins return to conference action on Sept. 26 during the second TVL meet at Tuolumne Regional Park in Modesto.
Volleyball
The Bruins (12-4) carried the momentum of a stellar preseason into a hard-fought match with Escalon on Sept. 13, where the reigning champion Lady Cougars stole a 3-0 win.
With standout middle blocker Kendra Garcia still nursing an ankle injury, the Lady Bruins struggled at the net to stop the likes of Cassidy Caton (23 kills) and Krysten Rose (four blocks). Brittany Cody played terrific and had 12 digs for the Bruins while Allie Heredia dished out 16 assists. Raine Gallagher added five kills while Karina Cajero managed two blocks and Ericka Cisneros three aces.
"We played them tough for the first match," Riverbank coach Lisa Mila said. "We made a few unforced errors towards the end of the game and seized up and let them come back for the win.
"We just didn't adjust, like we have been doing. We saw their weakness and couldn't move the ball around. Once we got frustrated we lost control and Escalon capitalized on us mentally."
Riverbank played at Orestimba on Tuesday, though results were not available at press time. The team hosts Hilmar on Thursday.
Girls Golf
The Bruins (2-3) landed their first two wins of the VFL season in back-to-back contests by besting host Ripon 197-201 at the Jack Tone Golf Course and edging Linden 171-185 at the Escalon Golf Course.
At Ripon, Tori Sandoval led the way with a 47-stroke day while Emily Blevins shot a 49. Gabby Macedo carded a 50 while Olivia Luu (51), Yolanda Sandoval (56) and Janelle Luu (58) also played well.
The Bruins hosted unbeaten league favorite, Bret Harte (5-0), on Tuesday, though results were not available at press time. The Bruins are at Escalon (4-1) on Thursday.
Boys Soccer
It took only two games for Riverbank High's varsity soccer team to climb to sole possession of first place in the league standings. The Bruins (2-0) are the only TVL team with a perfect record after outlasting Escalon 3-2 on Sept. 10 and blasting Orestimba 8-0 two days later.
Since Escalon beat Ripon and Hilmar and Hughson tied against each other, the Bruins again emerge as the clear favorite of the TVL.
They pressed that point emphatically during the win over Orestimba, where only 11 Warrior shots were directed at the Bruin goal and only eight were close enough to garner saves for Rafael Ramirez (six) and Kenny Veliz (two). Veliz and Jonathan Rodriguez (assist) scored two goals each for the Bruins while Armando Rodriguez, Quintero Rodrigo, Ivan Vigil and Oscar Jimenez all netted scores.
The Bruins hosted Hilmar on Monday, though results were not available at press time. The team has a bye today, Sept. 19, and plays host Ripon on Sept. 24.
