Junior VB star named NorCal Athlete of Week
Hollister – San Benito volleyball player Emily Kortsen earned Northern California Athlete of the Week honors from CalHiSports.com and NorCalPrepscores.com last week.
Kortsen, the reigning Tri-County Athletic League MVP, has helped lead the ‘Balers to an 18-4 start as a junior opposite.
“It was kind of overwhelming,” Kortsen said of her latest honor. “Once I thought about it, it’s a pretty big region, so it was pretty exciting.”
Each week, one boy and one girl are selected from the Northern California region, which for this honor is considered the North Coast, Central Coast, Sac-Joaquin, Northern, San Francisco and Oakland sections.
San Benito coach Dean Askanas said that Korsten was a most-deserving recipient. “The top of the heap; she’s the cream of the crop,” Askanas said.
Though Kortsen’s 260 kills on the season highlight perhaps her most visible skill, her coach said the junior impacts the game in many other ways. “Great serve, great passer, terrific attitude, hard worker,” said Askanas, rattling off some of Korsten’s attributes. “She just a real jewel.”
Kortsen was quick to credit her teammates as an invaluable part of her success. “I wouldn’t have gotten there without my passers and my setter,” she said. “Everyone else is so good, we’re such a well-rounded team (that) it makes it easier to do a lot better.”
WATER POLO
The San Benito boys’ varsity water polo team had enough of the close contests it played over the weekend at the St. Francis Invitational. After splitting a pair of one-goal matches in wrapping up tournament play Saturday, the ‘Balers returned home to thump Carmel 19-7 in Hollister Monday.
“We spread it around,” coach Tom Agan said of his team’s balanced scoring effort. “It was a pretty good team effort.”
The victory improved San Benito’s Tri-County Athletic League record to 4-0.
After falling to Los Altos 11-7 on Friday, the ‘Balers (10-4) returned to Mountain View the next day, beating Los Gatos 7-6 and losing 11-10 to Cupertino.
The San Benito JV boys’ water polo team also prevailed in its contest against Carmel on Monday, defeating the visiting Padres 8-3. Ryan Whiteside scored a match-high three goals, and Thomas Parcell and Sabastian Forbush both scored twice for the ‘Balers (6-2, 2-1 TCAL). San Benito coach John Agan also credited goalies Kyle Reuther and Adam Davis as instrumental in the victory.
Efforts to reach San Benito girls’ coach Lacey Sutton were unsuccessful.
The ‘Balers host Robert Louis Stevenson on Wednesday. Tentative scheduling lists the girls’ varsity match as set for 3:30pm, followed by the JV girls (4:30), the varsity boys (5:30) and JV boys (6:30).
CROSS COUNTRY
The San Benito cross country teams headed north to the elite Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto on Saturday.
The ‘Baler boys finished fifth in the combined CCS team times at 85:12, trailing Los Gatos, Willow Glen, Bellarmine and San Lorenzo Valley. Senior Rigo Vasquez took eighth in the 286-runner field, posting a time of 15:52, while sophomore Erik Rodriguez finished 43rd in 16:53.
The San Benito girls placed sixth in 103:20. Sophomore Courtney Allen (32nd) and junior Sandy Meza (50th) enjoyed the best performances in the 245-person race.
