Riverside Athletics Week in Review – 9/10/18: Indoor Volleyball Earns Three Wins, Football Edged by Fullerton, Cross Country Stays on the Podium
The Tigers fell to the defending state champion Fullerton College Hornets on Saturday night in a back-and-forth affair for the majority of the game. Despite the Hornets jumping out to a two-score lead early in the contest, the Tigers gained their first lead late in the third quarter. However, some misfortune in special teams play and a powerful Fullerton offensive handed the Tigers a 34-33 defeat. Malik Walker rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns marking his second-straight game with 100+ yards on the ground. Stone Smartt was economical through the air as seen in 232 total yards on a 16-for-24 night. He located Antonio Mitchell for his lone passing touchdown of the game. Daryl French paced the defense with nine tackles, while Mitchelle Agude backed him with eight stops.
Riverside (1-1) will travel 10 miles up the 215 North and take on the San Bernardino Valley College Wolverines (2-0) on Saturday, September 15 at 6 p.m.
The men's and women's cross country team hit the trails in Oceanside, CA for the Palomar Invitational on Friday morning. The Tigers continued to perform well with the men and women both finishing on the podium for the second-straight meet. The men placed second, while the women finished in third place.
Men
Sophomore Enrique Villa acted as the top set of legs for the Tigers for the second-consecutive meet by placing third overall. He crossed the finish line at a time of 21:12. He missed the second-place slot by a slim margin. Sophomore Austin Dai continued his early-season consistency with a sixth-place showing with a mark of 21:38.
Freshman Tyler Graves was the third-best finisher for Riverside by coming in 18th place with a 22:23 mark, while freshman Matthew Lieberman followed with a 22:32 finishing time.
Women
Sophomore Sujey Esteva followed up her third-place showing last Friday with a 10th-place finish on the day. She was Riverside's top finisher with a time of 20:48. Freshman Ariel Martinez was nipping at her heels with a time of 21:15 to place 15th overall.
Freshman Aliy Camacho earned a 19th place time that read 21:40, while freshman Sandra Espinoza backed her with a 25th place finished with a clip of 22:02
Riverside continues action on Friday, September 14 at Cerritos Regional Park in the Southern California Preview.
The Tigers are off to a hot start as they went 3-1 on the week with wins over Citrus, Victory Valley, and Imperial Valley.
It took only six sets for the women's volleyball squad to haul in a pair of non-conference victories over Victor Valley and Imperial Valley. The offense was not lenient when it came to a forceful attack, while the defense followed suit with poise and consistency.
Riverside did not allow their opponents to reach more than 17 points in any of the six sets. Sophomore setter Taylor Gardner was dynamic in facilitating the offense by accumulating a total of 59 assists through the two games. She recorded 34 assists in the win over Victor Valley thus snapping her previous season-high mark of 30 assists. Additionally, she added 19 total digs and a pair of aces.
She consistently fed a trio of attackers highlighted by freshman outside hitter Vashti Elias-Romero. She tallied a total of 27 kills throughout the two matches to go along with 40 digs and three aces. Sophomore outside hitter Julia Balancier followed suit with 25 kills and 22 digs.
Sophomore libero Natalie Escher strung together a strong performance against Imperial Valley with 14 digs which was two digs shy of her season high. Sophomore middle Madison Bogh had a strong serving game against Imperial Valley by dropping in four aces.
Riverside (4-2) will return home on Wednesday, September 12 to host Grossmont and Cuyamaca in the RCC Round Robin. Games begin at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
The Tigers kicked off their season at the River Rage Tournament hosted by American River this past weekend and went 1-2. They earned their first victory of the season by defeating Sacramento City College, 21-4. Riverside jumped out to a commanding eight-goal lead at the conclusion of the first quarter and never looked back. Kate Fox and Patricija Ostarcevic each recorded four goals, while Makenna Hurdle and Hannah Peercy each fired home three scores. Katelin Simonson earned the victory in the cage after recording three saves.
Riverside competed in the Inland Empire Classic over the weekend and faced off against a trio of Division III teams. The Tigers went 1-3 on the weekend highlighted by a 9-8 victory over the Chapman University Panthers. Alexis Gutierrez paced the Tigers with three goals and three assists, while Ethan Saenz chipped in three scores as well. David Romero earned the victory between the pipes after hauling in eight saves.
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