Prep volleyball: El Capitan snaps Los Banos’ winning streak at 48

Dayanna Torres wanted El Capitan’s volleyball team to end Los Banos’ streak. The Gauchos setter feels it could be a stepping stone on their way to winning a Western Athletic Conference championship.

Torres and the Gauchos took a big step in unseating the four-time WAC champs by defeating Los Banos 25-14, 25-11, 21-25, 25-19 on Thursday night to end the Tigers’ WAC winning streak at 48 consecutive matches.

“That was one of the greatest, hardest matches we’ve had,” said Torres, who orchestrated the offense with 27 assists. “We had to work so hard to get this far. Now we want to keep going.”

The Gauchos (11-0, 6-0 WAC) started out like they were in a hurry to get home as they dominated the first two games to go up 2-0. El Capitan hitters Malia Danby (11 kills), Makenzie Webber (eight kills, two blocks) and Ariana Johnson (six kills, three blocks) put on an impressive display.

“My offense is very strong,” said El Capitan coach Maycol Fernandez. “If we can pass the ball better, especially our service receive, we can be a lot better. That’s what we’re working on every day.”

The Tigers (4-1) didn’t go away.

Los Banos battled its way through the third game and then Paige Domanski got the hot hand. Domanski recorded five of her six aces during a Tigers 8-0 run that opened up a 22-14 lead on their way to extending the match to a fourth game.

The Gauchos struggled returning her low liners as they knuckled their way over the net.

“The biggest thing I told our girls tonight is, we just have to go after it,” said Los Banos coach Greg Soliz. “We had to go for it with our serving, swinging, everything. We had to be aggressive. Our serving was a big difference.”

The Tigers were led by Domanski, who also had 12 assists. Bailey Allen finished with 12 kills and two blocks. Sharon Lampreda added 10 kills and a pair of blocks.

Los Banos again pushed the Gauchos in the fourth game, but El Capitan took control late with a 6-0 run that gave the team a 22-17 lead.

“We knew Los Banos was going to battle,” Fernandez said. “We were worried about that. We knew coming in this would be hard and that made our girls more anxious. Some times when my girls are a little anxious, they make mistakes, but they competed.”

The loss was the first in the WAC for the Tigers since a 3-2 setback to Central Catholic on Oct. 11, 2012.

“El Capitan is a good team and I’ve said all along they are the best team in our league,” Soliz said. “I knew we could compete, but we had to play well the whole time. For me, the streak was an awesome time. We’ve had some good players who have been a part of the program. Players who worked hard and wanted to win. It’s been easy for me as a coach.”

Mariposa 3, Le Grand 0 in Le Grand – Katie Farnsworth finished with seven kills, 10 digs and two aces as the Bulldogs dropped a 25-7, 26-24, 25-11 match to the Grizzlies.

Stone Ridge Christian 3, Venture Academy 0 at Merced – Aubriana Vander Woude paced the Knights with nine kills and Justine De Jager added eight kills in a 25-22, 25-20, 25-9 win.

Boys soccer

Turlock 1, Merced 0 in Merced – Marcus DeCouto scored the lone goal in the game as the Bulldogs defeated the Bears. Saad Sohail made five saves in goal for the Bears.

Le Grand 10, Mariposa 1 in Le Grand – Alejandro Zagal, Emilio Zavala, Luisnoe Cardenas and Uriel Rosas all scored two goals as the Bulldogs (4-1-1 SL) routed the Grizzlies.

Girls golf

Buhach Colony 244, Turlock 245 in Turlock – Tianna Lee’s round of 45 helped the Thunder edge Turlock to pull even with the Bulldogs atop the Central California Conference standings. Buhach Colony has swept the two dual matches and Turlock won the midseason tournament.

Pitman 283, Merced 324 in Merced – The Pride’s Diana Calzada shot a 43 to pace Pitman to the win. Juliana Slagter posted Merced’s top score with a 62.

Atwater 267, Golden Valley 311 in Atwater – Emma Reyes turned in a 45 to help the Falcons pick up a win. Ashleigh Esau also chipped in with a 52 for the Falcons.

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Prep volleyball: El Capitan snaps Los Banos’ winning streak at 48."