The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/213648
November 15, 2013 Page 5 Sports Tennis team ends season undefeated Garrett Ward Staff Writer With the tennis season coming to a close, the girls reflect upon their flawless season and amazing determination to become this year's league season and tournament champions. From the bottom of the ladder to the top, these girls dominated league opponents and fought off scares from teams such as Foothill. Closing the season with a nerve-racking 5-4 win against Foothill, the Lady Spartans celebrated their undefeated season. However, the Lady Spartans knew there was still work to be done. The girls headed into the league's singles and doubles tournament with confidence and determination. After last year's defeat in the finals, Ginger Shaffer won it all and was named the League Single's Champion for the Lady Spartans. Ginger Shaffer, sophomore, concluded her perfect record in league play with the win. "Heading into the season, I was Courtesy photo/ Maryn Spangler Senior Erika Ellis (Far left) and Senor Josie Clements (Middle) talking pregame with their opponents from Shasta High School determined to win and felt ready to take on my league opponents. I didn't expect to go undefeated, but it felt great doing so," adds Ginger Shaffer. The Lady Spartans were not done though, and fought hard for a league doubles title as well. Back in action, Ginger Shaffer and Aislynn Lair battled together, but fell short claiming Varsity volleyball seasons ends dissapointingly Owen Ritter A/E Editor Fall sports have been wrapping up, and I'm here to tell you about the Red Bluff High School Varsity Volleyball team. Although the season may not have been their best, it certainly wasn't their worst. The players made up for it in deeper, more personal ways. It seems as though the Lady Spartans had full potential to perform great throughout the season, but just didn't seem to get what they worked so hard for. "The team is positive now, they deserved better than the win/lose record," said Head Coach, Kim Wheeler. They went into the season ready to win, but it looks like some un- lucky circumstances changed the course of the 2013 Varsity Volleyball history. The course didn't record the best outcomes, but they kept their spirits up and never backed down in the face of adversity. "The results of the season did not go well, but the team bonding was good," said senior Hannah Woodall. On November seventh, the girls played their last game of the season against Enterprise High School, and even while Enterprise has a leading score throughout the game, our lady Spartans kept on fighting. They let their strengths shine even amongst a competition such as Enterprise. The players fought till the end of their last game; they kept together and stuck with it all the way through. "We kept our spirits up until the end," said Hannah Woodall. The team pushed through and gave it their all. "The players progressed as the season went on," said Peyton McKerras. It seems that the team had a rocky season, but showed their true efforts throughout their journey. "It was a great season, people played well, but couldn't f inish," said Coach Wheeler. The team was competitive and played hard, but they just couldn't make it to the top. " We kept our spirits up until the end ." -Hannah Woodall second place in the league tournament. Seniors Josie Clements and Erika Ellis also played well together and made it to the third round in the league tournament for Red Bluff High. After dominating league play, the Lady Spartans took on the Northern Section in both team and individual competition. Ginger Shaffer finished with a third place victory and also finished third with her doubles partner, Aislynn Lair. However, the Spartans team play was halted abruptly from a stunning loss with a match score of 5-4 to Chico High where Ginger Shaffer had suffered her first individual loss of the season. And just like that, the Red Bluff girls' magical season had come to an end. "It's very sad to think my last season for Red Bluff is already over, but I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way," says Josie Clements. The Lady Spartans will be saying goodbye to three seniors- Josie Clements, Erika Ellis, and Emmaline Iverson- who have competed for Red Bluff all four years and were huge contributors to the tennis team's success. JV volleyball ends year in an unsuccessful manner Grey Grotke Staff Writer This year's volleyball season has ended for our Junior Varsity players. Red Bluff JV volleyball finished the season with 2-6 in league, and the last game was a loss with Enterprise. But despite the seemingly unsuccessful season, players remain very positive about this year. This year's team consisted of sophomores Abbie Fambrough, Regan Barrow, Sarah Cantrell, Stefanie Brunello, Alexis Aguirre, Madeleine Eicholtz, Morgan Griffis, Christina Zumalt, Helen Roland, Brittany Botell, and the two freshmen, Kennedy Somavia and Ashley Tignor. When asked what they thought of the team, Alexis Aguirre replied "We are an outstanding team," and Christina Zumalt said "We improved from our team last year," and then she went on to state that they worked on a lot more team bonding, and it helped them work together as a team better and increased the game play intensity. Stefanie Brunello believed the team "Did really well" and went on to say "We had two freshmen on the team and they matched well with us." The team holds a consensus that they did better this season, as opposed to last year, Stefanie Brunello said. "We did better at passing." Alexis Aguirre stated that "we've overcome some team issues, and we played more as a team," and, as stated previously, Christina Zumalt also believed the team bonding had helped them significantly. Despite this apparent increase in team work, Stephanie Zumalt still believes that "we could improve on communication," When the others were asked how they thought the team could improve, Brittany Botel replied "we need to keep our heads up," and Christina Zumalt simply said that "We need to not make little mistakes" Even though the team didn't fair well considering the actual season record, the team members this year all seem to be content with the improvement they made, both as individuals and as a team, and they will all be leaving with their cherished memories. When asked what her favorite memory of this season was, Alexis Aguirre joked, "The morning practices where our coach brought doughnuts," but then went on to add in a more serious note, that her favorite memory was, "Experiencing when our team actually works well together and communicates." Brittany Botel said her favorite memory was, "how our coach taught us to play, he cared about us as people." Christina Zumalt said hers was "finding out we are capable of doing better than we thought we could." and Stefanie Brunello stated hers was "finally beating Foothill." beat my personal record," said sophomore Nicole Renfroe. The last match was at West Valley High School and was their league match where the team got 3rd place overall. "I was sick during the last two races, and I got 7th and then 13th on the last race, definitely not a satisfactory, but I will be ready on at Sectionals," said Renfroe. "I ran well, ended in 16th place and I beat previous position from the last time I ran there," said Dotson. But as the season nears an end, the runners reflect on their season and think about their season. "It was a great experience for my first year of running cross country," said Dotson. He then added he improved a lot and he has learned a lot of sportsmanship and techniques of running. "This season was pretty good. This was my second year of cross country and running Varsity both years, I improved a lot this year," said Renfroe. Since the Sectional meet won't be raced until after this issue is realesed, the people who qualify in Sectionals will move on to Nationals. Cross country team ends season succesfully Ryan Fisher Sports Editor The Red Bluff High School's Cross Country Team is beginning to wrap up their season with Sectionals that will be over by the time this issue is released. "I feel like we will do very well, we have already raced the West Valley course and we know the different strategies throughout race, definitely looking forward to this race," said sophomore Nero Dotson. "I'm looking forward on making a comeback at sectionals, and hopefully I am going to Spartan's Player of the Issue Ginger Shaffer Girls Tennis Only a Sophomore, Shaffer has already won a singles league title. Shaffer also placed second in the doubles league tournament. Ginger finished her season placing third in both singles and doubles at the Northern Section tournament. On top of all these accomplishments, Ginger Shaffer led the Spartans to an undefeated season. Player of the Issue/ Garrett Ward