Paris Rowan tries to muscle the ball past a defender Tuesday at Live Oak.
The girls field hockey has struggled over the past two weeks, but the Acorns ended on a high note with a 6-1 victory over Cupertino Thursday.
The girls came out strong behind goals by seniors Jenny Alton, Allison Mutz and Katie Hillman. Senior Kristen Galione even got into the mix with her first goal, ever to put the Acorns on top 4-0 in the first half.
Once the team went up 3-0, Coach Christine Musselmann decided to mix things up by swapping positions. The defense became the offense, and vice versa. Only the goalie remained in her position.
According to Musselmann, the shuffle paid off for the team, as the players now have a better appreciation for each others roles. She said that the team will now be able to work together better going into their game against Willow Glen on Tuesday.
The rest of the game went Live Oak's way as they added two more goals in the second half, following a loan goal made by Cupertino.
Having great games were Katie Keyser, who had three assists, Mutz, who scored and also assisted in three goals and Eileen Grove, who had a goal.
The team improved to 4-5-2 in league play and 4-9-2 overall.
The Acorns were coming off a 1-1 tie to Del Mar Oct. 21 and a pair of 3-1 losses to Leland and Saratoga on Oct. 14 and 16, respectively.
Mutz scored the loan goal against Del Mar and Hillman scored both goals against Leland and Saratoga.
Musselmann is confident going into the match against Willow Glen, who they defeated in Willow Glen earlier in the season.
Girls Golf
The Tri-County Athletic League Championships scheduled to take place on Monday, Oct. 20 were postponed.
Tennis
The Live Oak girls tennis team started out well this past week, defeating North Salinas 5-2 Tuesday, but then fell to Salinas High School Thursday 6-1.
In their game against the Vikings, the girls dominated the entire match, winning each of the singles matches.
Mallorie Stevens continued her dominance as she soundly defeated her opponent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
Her teammates also won their matches fairly easily. Shaila Patel and Kim Wakatsuki both won in straight sets, and Amanda Bouchet had to win in three, after losing the second set 2-6. But she won the other sets soundly 6-2, 6-3.
The momentum continued into the doubles as Megan Smart and Rachelle Abby won in straight sets. The first was exciting as they had to win in a tie breaker 7-6(7-5). They dominated their next set 6-0.
Live Oak lost the next two doubles matches, but had a strong showing.
The following Thursday, the tied seemed to turn for Live Oak. They were missing No. 2 singles player Bouchet, who was ill. This forced Patel to move up to the No. 2 spot, with Wakatsuki taking the three spot and Smart filling the four vacancy.
Once again Stevens dominated her match 6-3, 6-1, but that was the only bright spot on the day. The other matches were won by Salinas, but the entire team put up a gallant fight.
Coach Ignacio Herrera said that things may have been different had the line up not been altered.
"It was a great disappointment that our No. 2 singles players, Amanda Bouchette, was ill (Thursday) and did not play," said Herrera. "Had she been with us, I do not know what the result might have been, but I can assure you it would have been very different."
Live Oak's next match will be against Notre Dame Wednesday at Live Oak.A make-up date has been scheduled for Monday, Oct. 27. at the Salinas Country Club.
Girls Volleyball
The Acorns fell to San Benito on Wednesday night, losing 20-25, 26-24, 16-25 and 23-25.
The loss dropped Live Oak's record to 2-4 in the Tri-County Athletic League.
Junior Juliette Bowers led the Acorns, hitting at 20.6 percent with 12 kills and 18 digs.
Coach Laura Coleman said Bowers' passing was the best on the team in the match.
"We served quite well as a team," coach Laura Coleman said, "which probably helped keep the scores close."
Senior Sarah Lusenti also played well for the Acorns, digging 23 balls. She had some nice saves, Coleman said.
"We are still having problems with our hitting, making too many unforced errors," Coleman said. "Overall, (the team) played much better than against Gilroy."
Live Oak lost last week's match to Gilroy in straight sets.
There are few reasons why the Acorns have gotten off to such a slow start in league, Coleman said.
"We're just not putting balls away," she said. "My defense is just awesome at times, but we just can't play (good) defense all the time."
Coleman also attributes the rough start to herself. She said she has missed practices will miss next week's game because of personal issues.
"My mind is just not there," Coleman said. "And I know it's affecting the girls, even though they try to tell me it doesn't - I've missed several practices; more than I ever have in my entire life of coaching."
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