Season woes continue for the Live Oak Football team with a 27-0
loss to Palma Friday in Salinas, dropping their record to
0-8-1.
Season woes continue for the Live Oak Football team with a 27-0 loss to Palma Friday in Salinas, dropping their record to 0-8-1.
Despite an injury to the Cheiftain’s quarterback early in the first quarter, Palma continued to roll along.
It was a battle of the defenses, but it was Palma’s which played better. The Chieftains held strong against the Acorn offense, which was able to etch out just 112 total yards. On the other side of the ball, Live Oak yielded only 187 total yards.
Due to rain, the field became muddy and very slick. This caused many problems on both sides with hanging on the ball, however only one fumble was given up by Live Oak.
Once again leading the charge for Live Oak on the ground was Daniel Salinas who ran for 30 yards on 14 carries.
The Acorns went with the platoon system at quarterback to try to generate some options, having three players man the position. None of the quarterbacks were able to get anything started. But the Acorns, who have never given up all season despite the score, mounted two strong drives late in the game.
Palma seemed to have the answer for nearly everything that Live Oak threw at them. The longest play was a 42 yard pass from Steve Conner to Jeff Schroedter in the fourth quarter. Four plays later, the Acorns turned the ball over on downs.
Live Oak will now look to Gilroy for the final game of the season. The game will be hard fought on both sides and records will not matter, Webb said. Gilroy is 3-5-1 and is 0-4 in league. The game will be played at home on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Volleyball
The Live Oak girls volleyball team played a hard fought match against the Gilroy Mustangs Thursday, winning 25-8, 20-25, 25-19, 25-19. With the victory, the girls secured a spot in CCS.
“I didn’t think we would get in,” coach Laura Coleman said.
The team is seeded fifth and will face Milpitas in the first round.
The Acorns (18-5, 4-6 TCAL) defeated Milpitas earlier in the season.
“I don’t know how much they improved since the last time we played them,” Coleman said. “It’s a flip of a coin.”
The girls played hard in a game with many momentum shifts. In the first game, the girls were nearly flawless, winning 25-8.
“We were just on a roll,” Coleman said. “It was one of those rare games where we couldn’t make a mistake.”
In the second game, the tide shifted and Gilroy took the advantage. The girls, according to Coleman, were able to swing some of the momentum their way, but it was too little too late. Gilroy won 25-20.
The next two games were hard fought, but Live Oak was able to outplay the Mustangs for two 25-19 victories.
“Both teams played very well and hard,” Coleman said. “For the first time my stomach was in a knot. That hasn’t happened for a long time.”
Playing well for the Acorns was junior Tiven Catrett, who had 12 kills. Coleman said that this was one of her best games, one without many errors.
Juliette Bowers and Kristina Giacalone each had seven kills. Bowers also provided the team with strong serving, tallying four aces. The defense kept the momentum on their side, Coleman said.
On Tuesday the Acorns lost for the fifth time in six matches falling to Notre Dame 25-23, 15-25,15-25, 22-25.
Despite the outcome, Coleman liked what she saw from her team, who played against a better Notre Dame squad.
“I thought they played well,” Coleman said. “It seemed like we made very little hitting errors. We probably played as best as we could. We would have had to have (Notre Dame) play really bad in order to win.”
After winning the first set, the Acorns were neck and neck with the Spirits in the next two sets until Notre Dame’s serving took over.
“They had a server that served us right off the court with some awesome serves,” Coleman said. “Their servers were stronger than ours. We didn’t miss hardly any serves, but we had only three or four aces.”
The defense helped to keep the game close, Coleman said.
“Our defense did it’s job as much as it possibly could,” she said. “You’re not going to get every ball.”
Coleman also credits her team with serving and receiving game, which also helped keep the match somewhat close against a Notre Dame team that has lost just once in league.
Bowers led the Acorns with 10 kills, while committing just one hitting error. Senior Kaycee Dowdle had a great game in her passing and blocking.
“It felt very good,” Dowdle said. “I’m back and on track. I’m in a routine again.”
No. 5 Live Oak will begin CCS play at Leland in San Jose on Saturday at 3 p.m. If the Acorns are able to defeat No. 4 Milpitas (19-16), they will move on to face No. 1 Salinas (26-8).
Tennis
Mallorie Stevens led the charge for the Live Oak tennis team in the TCAL tournament last week.
Stevens looked promising in the first rounds, but lost to Gilroy’s No. 2-singles Valerie Huang 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
Coach Ignacio Herrera says that Stevens played well, only she found herself in a funk the entire game.
“She did okay, she just fell short,” Herrera said. “It was one of those games where anything you do doesn’t come out right. Anyone can have a bad day. Unfortunately it happened in the semifinals.”
Amanda Bouchet had a strong match against North Salinas, defeating her opponent 6-2, 6-3. In the second round, she lost to Notre Dame, 6-1, 6-1.
Shaila Patel and Kim Wakatsuki won their first set 6-3 against the Hollister doubles team, but were defeated in the next two sets 6-1, 6-4 to drop the match.
In the second doubles match, Megan Smart and Rachelle Abbey lost in straight sets to Notre Dame 6-2, 6-2.
Despite the TCAL losses, Herrera was still pleased with his team. Many of his players were inexperienced, but as the season progressed, so did the girls.
Although next season is too far off, Herrera is optimistic about the returning players.
Stevens, Bouchet, Smart and Wakatsuki will graduate this year, but those who remain received valuable experience.
“I’m trying to rebuild the team,” Herrera said. “I’m hoping there will be newcomers with experience. I know they’re out there, they just need to come forward. The ones who return had a very good season, they have really matured. Wait until next season.”
