by Jeremy Unger Even with a change in the offensive scheme and several big playmakers, the Mats football team is having one of the worst seasons in recent memory. The Mats are 3-5 this year and have only won one game in nearly two months. After the Mats lost three games in a row in early October, coach John Wade refocused the offense, putting an emphasis on the running game in order to better utilize running backs Kevin Paulsen ‘10, and John Coupin ‘11, and quarterback Ross Anderson ‘12. “The three of them are all a real core part of our team and they’ve helped us out of a lot of tight spots,” said defensive lineman Aaron Whitelock ‘10. The Mats seemed to be turning things around with the new offensive scheme, defeating archrival Campolindo in a convincing 30-7 victory on the road. “We wanted to get the ball in our older guys’ hands,” said Wade to the Contra Costa Times. “So the guys we had touching the ball on every play were our three playmakers. [Campolindo] had trouble stopping it so we went with it.” After the victory over the Cougars, the Mats were poised for a turn around, but since the Campolindo game the Mats have struggled, falling to Acalanes at the Homecoming game 14-7 in a last second loss and to Las Lomas 35-21 the following week. The Mats continued to rely on the run throughout these games, with Anderson rushing for a combined 235 yards against the Dons and Knights and Paulsen rushing for 64 yards, but against teams like Acalanes and Las Lomas the Mats had difficulty adapting. In this new offense, the Mats haven’t used all-league wide receiver James King ‘10 as much, but he is still making a huge contribution to the team. “When you have a guy like James out there, he attracts a lot of attention from opposing teams and that allows for other people to get open for big plays,” said Coupin. King currently leads the Mats with 687 receiving yards this year and looks to be on his way to yet another all league performance. But the bright spots can’t outweigh the fact that the Mats are in the middle of their worst season since 2004, when the Mats finished the season 3-7. Although the Mats currently have a losing record, they could still make NCS this year and end the season on a high note if they have convincing wins in their final two games this season. The Mats face DFAL opponents Dougherty Valley this Friday and the first place Alhambra Bulldogs on Nov. 13. Mirador 11/6/09 Sports 13 Men’s Water Polo Prepares for NCS Playoffs Volleyball Continues Near-Perfect Winning Streak by Megan Freeman In the world of varsity women’s volleyball, the Lady Mats are sitting pretty. With an 18-game winning streak and only one loss, team captain Haley Sayres ‘10 has only good things to say of the team this year. “This is the best team I’ve been on in the four years I’ve played here,” said Sayres. “Last year’s team was great, and finished fifth in California, but I think this year’s team is closer and we work really hard. I think we’ll go a long way.” Mary Diamantidis ‘10, another team captain, has an equally optimistic take on the season. “We should be able to win our league, NCS too, and I think we can get better than fifth in state,” said Diamantidis. Diamantidis’ first prediction came true on Thursday, Oct. 29, when the team defeated Dublin easily and won the DFAL league title for the second year in a row. “Now we’re going to NCS because we won our league,” said setter Sarah Vaccaro ’12. “That’s in late November, and I think we have a good chance at first or second place.” The team was ranked second in the state on Nov. 2, behind the Campbell Hall Vikings who have only played 14 games this season. The local TV station Cal- Hi Sports took notice of the team’s excellent standings, and featured them after they defeated Campolindo in late September. The same station recently featured Diamantidis, giving her the weekly “Hammer Award,” showing a clip of a kill she made. The Lady Mats crushed Campo for a second time this year on Thursday, Oct. 22. They lost the first match but came back strong and won the next three. “Having a lot of fans there to cheer us on helps so much,” said Vaccaro. “We couldn’t have beaten Campo without our cheering section.” “This season, I don’t think we need to work on anything major,” said middle blocker Maddie Higgins ‘12. “We just need to fine-tune a little bit and work on the tiny things.” “Actually, we need to work on showing no mercy,” said Sayres. “We should just crush the bad teams fast. We take too long to win on some games that should be really easy.” Over Halloween weekend, the Lady Mats competed in the Northgate Invitational Tournament, winning five straight matches and only losing one game in the semifinals. They tied for third place out of 32 teams overall in the tournament. On Thursday, Nov. 5 the team honored their seniors before their last home game against Las Lomas. Results could not be posted by press time. The Lady Mats will begin this year’s run in the NCS playoffs on Nov. 11. Mats Football Finish Off Disappointing Season SPORTS by Brian Friel With the season coming to a close, the Miramonte water polo team is making a final charge towards the playoffs. Despite their tough loss to league rival Acalanes on Oct. 14, the Mats clinched the second seed in NCS with a strong record of 19-4. “We were hoping for the second seed in NCS because of our loss to Acalanes,” said Joey Fabian ‘11. The Mats showed that they are worthy of the seed with their strong performances at the North vs. South Tournament and the California Memorial State Tournament, where they won ninth and sixth place respectively. The tournaments are widely regarded as two of the most significant events of the season, and featured many of California’s toughest teams. “Our goal before was to win one of the tournaments, but now we have to set our sights on NCS,” said Teagan Hoover ‘11. At the North vs. South Tournament, which took place at Menlo Atherton High, the Mats showed a large amount of resilience. After posting a disappointing loss in their first game against Villa Park, they rallied to beat Menlo Atherton, Ventura, and Menlo and win ninth place. “I think we played well at North vs. South,” said Jonathan Sibley ‘10. “We definitely have some room for improvement though.” At the State tournament, which took place on Oct. 30-31, the Mats conquered adversity when Sibley, a captain and goalkeeper, suffered an injury before their third game against Bellarmine. Aleck Ryner ‘11 stepped in at goalie to replace Sibley, and recorded 17 saves as the Mats beat Bellarmine 8-5. “It was awesome to have a lot of other guys step up and beat Bellarmine, which is a really good team,” said Sibley. With the tournaments behind them, the Mats are now focused on their goal of a fifth straight NCS championship. Due to their high seed, the Mats have a first-round bye in the playoffs, and will face the winner of Clayton Valley and Marin Catholic on Nov. 7 at Miramonte. “It’ll be a great game,” said Sibley. “We definitely want to get a lot of fans there.” If the Mats do make the championship game, they will have a home field advantage. The finals, usually played at Campolindo High School, are now being played here at Miramonte. “It will be a huge advantage for us if we make the finals. We are comfortable playing here and we will be ready to play,” said Nick Deaver ‘11. To get to the finals, the team will likely have to go through De La Salle, and either Las Lomas or rival Campolindo. If the strong play continues, another NCS championship could be in the cards for the Mats. Juliana Stivanicevic ‘10 prepares to hit the ball back to Campo. Sarah Vaccaro ‘12 goes up for a spike during the Campo game. Kevin Paulsen ‘10 runs for a big gain during the Homecoming game. John Holland ‘10 passes the ball over a Campolindo defender. Photo: C. Gilbert Photo: S. Haley Photo: C. Gilbert Photo: J. Fong
p. 13 Sports
Mar 23, 2016
Mirador by Megan Freeman Sarah Vaccaro ‘12 goes up for a spike during the Campo game. by Jeremy Unger by Brian Friel John Holland ‘10 passes the ball over a Campolindo defender. Juliana Stivanicevic ‘10 prepares to hit the ball back to Campo. Kevin Paulsen ‘10 runs for a big gain during the Homecoming game. Photo: S. Haley Photo: J. Fong Photo: C. Gilbert Photo: C. Gilbert
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by Jeremy Unger
Even with a change in the offensive scheme and several big playmakers, the Mats football team is having one of the worst seasons in recent memory. The Mats are 3-5 this year and have only won one game in nearly two months.
After the Mats lost three games in a row in early October, coach John Wade refocused the offense, putting an emphasis on the running game in order to better utilize running backs Kevin Paulsen ‘10, and John Coupin ‘11, and quarterback Ross Anderson ‘12.
“The three of them are all a real core part of our team and they’ve helped us out of a lot of tight spots,” said defensive lineman Aaron Whitelock ‘10.
The Mats seemed to be turning things around with the new offensive scheme, defeating archrival Campolindo in a convincing 30-7 victory on the road. “We wanted to get the ball in our older guys’ hands,” said Wade to the Contra Costa Times. “So the guys we had touching the ball on every play were our three playmakers. [Campolindo] had trouble stopping it so we went with it.”
After the victory over the Cougars, the Mats were poised for a turn around, but since the Campolindo game the Mats have struggled, falling to Acalanes at the
Homecoming game 14-7 in a last second loss and to Las Lomas 35-21 the following week. The Mats continued to rely on the run throughout these games, with Anderson rushing for a combined 235 yards against the Dons and Knights and Paulsen rushing for 64 yards, but against teams like
Acalanes and Las Lomas the Mats had difficulty adapting.
In this new offense, the Mats haven’t used all-league wide receiver James King ‘10 as much, but he is still making a huge contribution to the team.
“When you have a guy like James out there, he attracts a lot of attention from opposing teams and that allows for other people to get open for big plays,” said Coupin.
King currently leads the Mats with 687 receiving yards this year and looks to be on his way to yet another all league performance.
But the bright spots can’t outweigh the fact that the Mats are in the middle of their worst season since 2004, when the Mats finished the season 3-7.
Although the Mats currently have a losing record, they could still make NCS this year and end the season on a high note if they have convincing wins in their final two games this season. The Mats face DFAL opponents Dougherty Valley this Friday and the first place Alhambra Bulldogs on Nov. 13.
Mirador 11/6/09 Sports 13
Men’s Water Polo Prepares for NCS Playoffs
Volleyball Continues Near-Perfect Winning Streakby Megan Freeman
In the world of varsity women’s volleyball, the Lady Mats are sitting pretty. With an 18-game winning streak and only one loss, team captain Haley Sayres ‘10 has only good things to say of the team this year.
“This is the best team I’ve been on in the four years I’ve played here,” said Sayres. “Last year’s team was great, and finished fifth in California, but I think this year’s team is closer and we work really hard. I think we’ll go a long way.”
Mary Diamantidis ‘10, another team captain, has an equally optimistic take on the season.
“We should be able to win our league, NCS too, and I think we can get better than fifth in state,” said Diamantidis.
Diamantidis’ first prediction came true on Thursday, Oct. 29, when the team defeated Dublin easily and won the DFAL league title for the second year in a row.
“Now we’re going to NCS because we won our league,” said setter Sarah Vaccaro ’12. “That’s in late November, and I think we have a good chance at first or second place.”
The team was ranked second in the state on Nov. 2, behind the Campbell Hall Vikings who have only played 14 games this season.
The local TV station Cal-
Hi Sports
took notice of the team’s excellent standings, and featured them after they defeated Campolindo in late September. The same station recently featured Diamantidis, giving her the weekly “Hammer Award,” showing a clip of a kill she made.
The Lady Mats crushed Campo for a second time this year on Thursday, Oct. 22. They lost the first match but came back strong and won the next three.
“Having a lot of fans there to cheer us on helps so much,” said Vaccaro. “We couldn’t have beaten Campo without our cheering section.”
“This season, I don’t think we need to work on anything major,” said middle blocker Maddie Higgins ‘12. “We just need to fine-tune a little bit and work on the tiny things.”
“Actually, we need to work on showing no mercy,” said Sayres. “We should just crush the bad teams fast. We take too long to win on some games that should be really easy.”
Over Halloween weekend, the Lady Mats competed in the Northgate Invitational Tournament, winning five straight matches and only losing one game in the semifinals. They tied for third place out of 32 teams overall in the tournament.
On Thursday, Nov. 5 the team honored their seniors before their last home game against Las Lomas. Results could not be posted by press time.
The Lady Mats will begin this year’s run in the NCS playoffs on Nov. 11.
Mats Football Finish Off Disappointing Season
SPORTS
by Brian Friel
With the season coming to a close, the Miramonte water polo team is making a final charge towards the playoffs. Despite their tough loss to league rival Acalanes on Oct. 14, the Mats clinched the second seed in NCS with a strong record of 19-4.
“We were hoping for the second seed in NCS because of our loss to Acalanes,” said Joey Fabian ‘11.
The Mats showed that they are worthy of the seed with their strong performances at the North vs. South Tournament and the California Memorial State Tournament, where they won ninth and sixth place respectively.The tournaments are widely regarded as two of the most significant events of the season, and featured many of California’s toughest teams.
“Our goal before was to win one of the tournaments, but now we have to set our sights on NCS,” said Teagan Hoover ‘11.
At the North vs. South Tournament, which took place at Menlo Atherton High, the Mats showed a large amount of resilience. After posting a disappointing loss in their first game against Villa Park, they rallied to beat Menlo Atherton, Ventura, and Menlo and win ninth place.
“I think we played well at North vs. South,” said Jonathan Sibley ‘10. “We definitely have some room for improvement though.”
At the State tournament, which took place on Oct. 30-31, the Mats conquered adversity when Sibley, a captain and goalkeeper, suffered an injury before their third game against Bellarmine. Aleck Ryner ‘11 stepped in at goalie to replace Sibley, and recorded 17 saves as the Mats beat Bellarmine 8-5.
“It was awesome to have a lot of other guys step up and beat Bellarmine, which
is a really good team,” said Sibley.
With the tournaments behind them, the Mats are now focused on their goal of a fifth straight NCS championship. Due to their high seed, the Mats have a first-round bye in the playoffs, and will face the winner of Clayton Valley and Marin Catholic on Nov. 7 at Miramonte.
“It’ll be a great game,” said Sibley. “We definitely want to get a lot of fans there.”
If the Mats do make the championship game, they will have a home field advantage.
The finals, usually played at Campolindo High School, are now being played here at Miramonte.
“It will be a huge advantage for us if we make the finals. We are comfortable playing here and we will be ready to play,” said Nick Deaver ‘11.
To get to the finals, the team will likely have to go through De La Salle, and either Las Lomas or rival Campolindo.
If the strong play continues, another NCS championship could be in the cards for the Mats.
Juliana Stivanicevic ‘10 prepares to hit the ball back to Campo.
Sarah Vaccaro ‘12 goes up for a spike during the Campo game.
Kevin Paulsen ‘10 runs for a big gain during the Homecoming game.
John Holland ‘10 passes the ball over a Campolindo defender.
Photo: C. Gilbert
Photo: S. Haley
Photo: C. Gilbert
Photo: J. Fong
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