El Capitan water polo star earns her third consecutive CCC MVP award.
The El Capitan High girls water polo team won their third consecutive Central California Conference championship this fall, stretching their CCC winning streak to 31 games after a 12-0 run through the conference.
Leading the way was Gauchos star Kendall Thomas, who was selected by the conference coaches as the CCC Most Valuable Player - also for the third consecutive year.
Thomas led the Gauchos with 154 goals and 102 steals in 29 games this year, helping guide El Capitan to a 22-7 record. The Gauchos reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship game.
“Kendall is a very focused and self-motivated player. She is a true pleasure to coach,” said El Capitan coach Kristie Dunham, who was named the CCC Coach of the Year.
The other top awards handed out by the CCC coaches went to El Capitan’s Jenna Briggs as the Goalie of the Year, Golden Valley’s Libby Hamilton as the Offensive Player of the Year and Buhach Colony’s Gabi Perez as the Defensive Player of the Year.
The first-team selections were Alexis Smith (El Capitan), Anjoleena Garza (Merced), Jaden Key (Merced), Ashland Alcorn (Buhach Colony), Emma Johnston (Buhach Colony), Gabriella Sequin (Golden Valley) and Kaeley Wheeland (Central Valley).
The second-team selections were Christine Koenig (El Capitan), Marlow Carpenter (El Capitan), Jazzmen Hicks (Buhach Colony), Samantha Slocum (Merced), Gabriela Gamvle (Atwater), Victoria Montes (Livingston) and Sophia Skelson (Patterson).
CCC Boys Water Polo
El Capitan’s Rocco Cuttone was named the CCC Most Valuable Player after leading the Gauchos to the conference championship.
Cuttone lead El Capitan to an 11-1 record in the CCC and helped the Gauchos reach the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship game.
The other top CCC awards handed out by the coaches went to Buhach Colony’s Gannon Groth as the Goalie of the Year, Buhach Colony’s Jack Bustabade as the Offensive Player of the Year and Buhach Colony’s Joshua Whitaker as the Defensive Player of the Year.
The all-CCC first team picks were Jacob Gresham (El Capitan), Andrew Koenig (El Capitan), Mateo Tangaan (Golden Valley), Brayden Fookes (Buhach Colony), Lucas Avila (Atwater), Vincent Arroyo (Merced) and Easton Hamm (Merced).
The second-team was comprised of Dylan Webber (El Capitan), Michael Vasquez (Livingston), Isaac Martikke-Barajas (Patterson), David Chen (Merced), Austin Escobar (Atwater), Drew Hill (Buhach Colony) and Juan Medina (Golden Valley).
El Capitan’s Connor Greene was named the Coach of the Year.
CCAA Volleyball Awards
It was a special season for the Stone Ridge Christian girls volleyball team as the Knights repeated as Sac-Joaquin Section and NorCal Regional champions.
Stone Ridge Christian also went 12-0 in winning the Central California Athletic Alliance championship.
The CCAA coaches selected SRC junior Sydney Shaw as the Player of the Year.
Shaw did a little of everything for the Knights, as a hitter, setter and defender. She helped the Knights finish 37-4 and win the final 23 matches in a row.
Joining Shaw on the CCAA first team were Stone Ridge Christian’s Maartje Vander Dussen, Sasha Stillman and Alyssa Vander Woude, Big Valley’s McKenna Hughes and Venture Academy’s Nadeiah Howard.
Stone Ridge Christian’s Ken Shaw was named the Coach of the Year.
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 3:12 PM.
