PACIFIC COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE / NOV. 6, 2017
Griffs' Jordan, Mesa's Salas share women's AOTW honor.
Grossmont College volleyball player Khalia Jordan and San Diego Mesa soccer player Ana Sofia Salas are Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Women's Athletes of the Week for Oct. 27-Nov. 3.
Jordan, a sophomore outside hitter out of Olympian High School, played what coach Jamie Ivers described as "two brilliant matches" as the Griffins won twice and clinched their eighth straight conference championship.
Jordan hit .348 with 9 kills, 1 error on 23 attempts, 4 aces and 5 digs as the G-House swept Imperial Valley 25-16, 25-18, 25-10. She came back two nights later to lead the way as the Griffins avenged an earlier loss to San Diego City College with a 23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-16 victory over the visiting Knights.
Jordan recorded 12 kills with 2 errors, hitting .345 and adding 2 aces and a team-high 11 digs. Grossmont advanced to 19-5 against one of the state's toughest schedules, while San Diego City fell to 20-2. The Griffins, ranked No. 12 in the state, and the Knights, ranked No. 19, tied for the PCAC South Division title with 9-1 records.
Salas, a freshman midfielder from San Ysidro High School, scored what turned out to be the winning goal in a 2-0 road victory over Grossmont.
Two nights later, Salas scored two goals as the Olympians (12-4-2 overall, 6-1-1 in the PCAC South), ranked No. 15 nationally by the United Soccer Coaches Association, won 9-0 over Cuyamaca to move to within a point of first-place Southwestern.
HONORABLE MENTION
Kyra Bruesewitz (Grossmont Basketball), the Griffins' 5-foot-6 sophomore point guard from Reno High School, burned the nets for 37 points in a 123-36 blowout non-conference win over Copper Mountain. She went 11-for-18 from behind the 3-point arc and also had 5 steals.
Yilenia Betancourt (Southwestern Soccer), a freshman midfielder for the PCAC South Division leaders out of Chula Vista High School, scored 4 goals and passed off for an assist in a 9-0 win over Cuyamaca. She added an assist in a 3-2 victory over San Diego City College. The Jaguars (16-0-54, 6-0-2) are one of only two unbeaten teams remaining in the state, along with Santa Barbara City College which has a 15-0-1 record.
Brianne Cheatum (San Bernardino Valley Basketball), a 5-foot-6 sophomore point guard from Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley, helped lead the Wolverines to the consolation championship in the Mt. SAC Tip-Off Classic. Cheatum scored 16 points, dished off 5 assists and added 3 steals in a 61-60 first-round loss to the host team, Mt. SAC. She tallied 17 points as the Wolverines turned back College of the Canyons 64-51 in the consolation semifinals. Cheatum finished the tournament with 13 points, 6 assists and 7 steals in an 86-35 beat-down of Rio Hondo in the consolation finals.
Sophia Espinosa (San Diego Mesa Water Polo), a freshman from Hilltop High School, helped lead the Olympians to the PCAC championship with back-to-back victories in the conference tournament at San Diego Miramar College Aquatic Center's Ned Baumer Pool. Espinosa scored 5 goals and also contributed 2 assists and 6 steals as Mesa won 18-6 in the semifinals on Friday. She came back the following day with 4 goals and 2 steals as the Olympians turned back Palomar 10-7 in the tournament's championship game.
Nia De La Pena-Thompson (Palomar Basketball), a 5-foot-10 sophomore forward from Our Lady of Peace High School who missed much of last season with an injury, led 10 Palomar players in the scoring column in the Comets' 78-56 season-opening win over Santa Ana. She contributed 14 points and pulled down 8 rebounds as the Comets opened up a 27-point lead after three quarters and coasted home.
Isabella Rivera (MiraCosta Soccer), a freshman from Vista High School, had a hand in both the Spartans' goals as they came from behind to keep their playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 win on the road over College of the Desert. The Roadrunners led 1-0 when Rivera scored on Jenna Heatherly's assist in the 67th minute to tie the game. MiraCosta then won the game when Rivera assisted on a Heatherly goal in the 76th minute.
PCAC taps Knights' McCoy, Mesa's Vallo as Men's AOTW.
Robert McCoy from defending state community college basketball champion San Diego City College and San Diego Mesa football player Logan Vallo have been selected by the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference as Men's Athletes of the Week for Oct. 27-Nov. 5.
McCoy, a 6-foot-7 sophomore guard from Eisenhower High School in Chicago, scored 50 points and added 28 rebounds as SD City, ranked No. 1 in California to begin the season, recorded three straight wins to tip off its schedule, winning the championship in the Knights Invitational at Harry West Gymnasium.
McCoy's 19 points and 10 rebounds lifted San Diego City to a 97-78 victory over Los Angeles Harbor on the first day of the tournament as the Knights went on a 14-0 run in the second half.
He came back in the semifinals with 17 points and 11 rebounds as SD City broke open a two-point game against Southern California No. 11-ranked Mt. San Jacinto to win 99-81.
And McCoy led the Knights to their first championship in their own tournament since 2014, as he scored scoring 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 70-63 win over Fullerton.
It was the Knights' 20th straight victory going back to last season. McCoy was named the tournament's MVP.
Vallo, a 6-foot-0, 200-pound redshirt freshman running back from Yucca Valley High School by way of a redshirt year at the University of San Diego, scored four touchdowns on two runs of 3 yards each, a 50-yard pass play from Spencer Moyer and a 2-yard run to lead the Olympians to a 35-12 win over Mt. San Jacinto.
Vallo rushed for 198 yards on 21 carries and caught four passes for 73 yards as Mesa went 9-1 on the season and 4-0 in the American Division Mountain Conference to set up a showdown for the conference championship Saturday night against Southwestern.
HONORABLE MENTION
Jackson Strong (Palomar Basketball), a 6-foot-4 sophomore shooting guard out of Torrey Pines High School, got the Comets off on the right foot in their season opener as he scored 31 points, going 10-for-15 on 3-pointers, and pulled down 10 rebounds in a 95-78 win over Los Angeles Valley on the opening night of the We Play Hard Tournament at Ventura College. Strong finished with 66 points in the tournament, scoring 18 points and hauling in 9 rebounds in an 87-85 overtime loss to Orange Coast in the semifinals, then coming back with 17 points (going 9-for-10 from the free throw line) and grabbing 6 rebounds as the Comets downed Antelope Valley 77-74 in the third-place game.
Kevin McNeal (San Bernardino Valley Basketball), a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard from Cajon High School in San Bernardino, was named MVP of the Frank Garcia Classic at College of the Desert. McNeal scored 14 points in a 73-59 first-round win over Compton College. After the state No. 4-ranked and Southern California No. 2-ranked Wolverines disposed of Saddleback 61-57 in the semifinals, McNeal came back with 20 points and 5 rebounds as San Bernardino captured the tourney title by beating Copper Mountain 74-64.
Tommy Preston (Palomar Water Polo), a freshman goalie out of Vista High School, notched 23 saves as the Comets won the PCAC championship with a pair of wins in the conference tournament at San Diego Miramar Aquatic Center's Ned Baumer Pool. Preston recorded 7 saves while splitting time in the cage with Mike Mendola in a 14-5 win over San Diego Mesa on Friday. On Saturday, he contributed 16 saves and 2 steals as Palomar won the tournament and the conference title with an 8-6 victory over Grossmont.
Deion Alston (San Diego Miramar Basketball), a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward from Mt. Carmel High School, helped lead the host Jets to the championship game of the Don Gehler Memorial Tournament where they lost to Cerritos by one point in a heartbreaker. Alston scored 11 points and latched onto 6 rebounds in a 90-78 opening-round win over Imperial Valley. He scored 15 points in the semifinals as Miramar defeated Irvine Valley 84-81. And he had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in the Jets' 99-98 loss to Cerritos in the championship game.
Emilio Arellano (Southwestern Basketball). Arellano, a 6-foot-6 sophomore forward from San Diego Southwest High School, led the Jaguars to the consolation championship at the Don Gehler Memorial Tournament. Arellano scored 16 points and hauled in 11 rebounds in the first round in a 73-66 loss to eventual tournament champion Cerritos. His 25 points and 9 rebounds lifted Southwestern to an 86-82 win over Rio Hondo in the consolation semifinals. And he led the Jaguars past Imperial Valley in the consolation championship game with 16 points and 9 rebounds.
Bryce Parsons (Grossmont Basketball), a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard from West Hills High School, scored 54 points in COD's Frank Garcia Classic. After a 14-point, 5 rebound performance in an 84-78 loss to Copper Mountain in the first round, Parsons came back with 26 points to lead the Griffins over host COD in the consolation semifinals. He finished the tournament with 14 points and 6 assists in the consolation finals in an 83-64 win over Glendale Community College of Arizona.