Weston Ranch hosted a five-game loss (25-19, 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-17) against visiting Kimball on Wednesday evening to open Valley Oak League play.

The Cougars fell to 0-1 in league and 4-2 overall following a 3-2 loss, which Weston Ranch lost in the fifth set (17-15).

The Ranch won the first game, but Kimball (1-0) came back and won the next two to take the 2-1 lead.

The Cougars forced the fifth and deciding game with a 25-23 victory in Game 4, which was right after they lost by that same score in Game 3.

“The ref called us on the net eight times,” Weston Ranch coach Chris Bauer said of Game 3. “That, coupled with a service error, that’s nine points that we had to make up. We only had three service errors all match, which was phenomenal for us.”

Victoria Gulley led The Ranch with 21 kills.

Elisabeth Alexander finished with 17 kills and five solo blocks. Vanessa Contreras contributed with 11 kills.

“It’s a far cry from last year,” Bauer added. “We had our chances to win, but last year we couldn’t get close to that point against Kimball. Tonight was about as even as it could be.”

Weston Ranch lost in Game 2 by just three points, 25-22. The Cougars, who will be at Manteca’s Winter Gym on Monday, were ahead by three and five in Game 2 but failed to put the Jaguars in a 2-0 deficit.

“We just couldn’t get that big point to help us run away with it,” Bauer concluded.

Clarissa Gonzales had three aces. Alex Marapao tallied up 40 assists and Donna Marapao 14 digs.



SOPHOMORE

Weston Ranch 2, Kimball 1

The Cougars improved to 6-0 and opened league with a solid victory after knocking Kimball, 25-17, 27-29, 15-5.

Janis Sanchez led Weston Ranch with six kills and three blocks while Verneisha Vaughn finished with five kills. Sabrina Rangel tallied up 14 assists and five aces and Iris Murphy finished with five digs.



Sonora 2, Sierra 0

Brianna Padua and Cecilia Salve each had eight digs for Sierra, who fell to 0-1 in the VOL.



FRESHMEN

Sonora 2, Sierra 0

McKenna Albright had two kills to go with three service points during a league-opening loss to Sonora. Louisa Hunter tallied a kill and six service points.

Kimball 2, Weston Ranch 0

Weston Ranch’s Asia Stamps had two kills during a 25-9, 25-12 loss. Nichole Bigornia had two assists and Aliyah Ryan had two digs.