February Game of the Month: Varsity Soccer vs. Saint Ignatius

Presentation varsity soccer faced off against Saint Ignatius on Friday, January 22 and gained a major 2-0 win. The team is now ranked 5th in CCS this season.
The game started at 3:20 p.m. after the teams both warmed up and put their game faces on. Seniors Michelle Kay and  Taylor Johnson started the kickoff. In the first 10 minutes, senior Shelby Galaviz continually attacked the ball even when the ball was mostly in the defensive end. Junior Jennifer Randazzo, the star goalie of the varsity team, kept everything out of the box with her punts passing over half the field.
Michelle Kay’s headers and Julia Shon’s throw-ins teamed up to start the attack towards St. Ignatius’ goalbox. Sixteen minutes into the half, Megan Mccarthur scored off of a rebound right over the goalie’s head giving Presentation a 1-0 lead.
Eight minutes later, St. Ignatius had a close call off of a corner kick, but Jennifer Randazzo gobbled up the soccer ball once again. After this moment, the momentum shifted into a major offensive attack for the Panthers.
With two minutes left of the first half, Taylor Johnson took the corner kick that landed right in the box where Maire Rooney ripped a shot from the top of the six-yard line, landing in the back of the top right corner of the goal. This ended the half with the Panthers up 2-0.
The second half began and, after 11 minutes, sophomore Megan Mccarthur went down with a kick to the side of her shin, taking her out for the rest of the game. When asked how she was doing, she commented, “I’m on Motrin right now, but I’ll be fine!” Sophomore Rachel Ometer went down later near the end of the game after she collided with last month’s athlete of the month, senior Emma Caringello, for a header. She is recovering well now, too. Ometer commented, “I am out with a concussion at the moment. But I will not give up, and I will keep supporting my team.”
For the last 30 minutes of the game, arms were flailing and fouls were being handed out right and left, but the Panthers dominated and kept SI out of their box. The game finished with the score of 2-0. Junior Aneska Alino after the win said, “It was amazing! We worked so hard to keep our title for first place.”

Game of December: Varsity Basketball

The Panther’s Varsity Basketball team took on the Evergreen High School Cougars on December 8, 2009, and came out with a strong win of 76-43 by the end of the night, making their league count 2-0-0.

Nici Gilday, a guard who has been on the Presentation Varsity team since her freshman year, was proud of the game and the outcome. “The second half really picked up. What it all really comes down to is that we are a lot more disciplined than all the other teams we have been playing. We keep fighting until the end.”

As the team started every home game, senior Savanna Morgan led the team out of the gym foyer of Presentation High School by jumping up and hitting the sign of hope written on the gym wall. It says ‘Hard Work + Determination = CHAMPION.’ When Gilday was asked why the team did such a ritual, she commented, “We started that last year, and we hit it because it is a true testimony of what we believe. A creed, really.”

The starting lineup strutted onto the court, confident with their size and skill. Molly Pearson towered over Evergreen’s center for the tip-off, taking the ball for Presentation for the start of the game. Within the first couple of plays, the Panther’s energy shone, although shots were falling short and no shots made it in the basket. By the six minute mark, the only score on the board was 1-0 from a foul shot. Soon after, Gilday put up a shot from a breakaway, making the score 3-0. Evergreen kept fighting, but by the end of the first quarter, Presentation still came out on top.

The second quarter consisted of a lot of fouls and baskets. At the end of the half, the score was 34-15. The crowd was happy with the first half, but left room for improvement. One person in the crowd, Taylor Johnson, said, “I love going to support my friends on the team, and it’s a good feeling when your team does better because they know you are there supporting them. The second half had so much more energy in the air.”

The foul list for the home team reached up to 19 team fouls by the end of the night, showing their aggression and desire to win the game at any cost. Forward Chelsea Punian’s aggression tallied up four fouls. Cooling was very happy with the speed of the game, and how the team has been doing this season. “Our team is just winning everything in dominating fashion.” With the crowd’s support, who wouldn’t want to show their panther pride?

Credit for the win not only goes to the Varsity Basketball team, but also to the coaches, Wade Nakamura and Adam Blightman. Assistant Athletic Director Stacey Mallison, who was there to support her team, found the game exciting and was proud to see their success. “So far this season, everything looks good. There is a lot of potential and talent out on that court,” she said. “The game showed me that their speed of play has increased exponentially.”

Congratulations to the mighty strong basketball team, for not only did they defeat Evergreen, but they won the Pinewood Classic Tournament, winning the championship game 50-33. This leaves their current record at 5-0-0. The whole school is waiting to see how the Varsity Basketball team will do the rest of the season! After Christmas break, check out the following games: Valley Christian at Presentation on Wednesday January 6, 2010 at 7:30 pm AND Archbishop Mitty at Presentation on Wednesday January 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm.

November Game of the Month: Varsity Volleyball

On October 29, a row of four proud Presentation athletes stood in front of a raging crowd. The rest of their teammates stood behind them, cheering for them and congratulating them for their final home game at Presentation High School. The four seniors, Claire Hansen, Sarah Blach, Motade Atanda, and Stephanie Dvorak, were excited for their last volleyball game. The opposing team, Saint Ignatius, mentally prepared themselves for what they knew would be a hard game.
Senior Night, a tradition for volleyball as Pres, is a game that draws many viewers and really represents our school pride. Usually, all the members of the seniors’ families attend this game to see their girls’ final moment on the volleyball court. Traditionally, the rest of the team makes signs for the seniors and hang them on the walls for all to see. The seniors receive flowers and a special presentation from the announcer.
After these festivities were over, the girls got ready to start their game. Starting off strong, Presentation attacked SI with kill after kill. Atanda played a key role with plenty of sturdy blocks, shoving the ball back down onto SI’s side of the court. Pres won the first game quickly and easily, 25 to 16.
The second game was also quite successful and had plenty of exciting moments. Hansen and Blach were on their game and were hitting spectacularly. Blach, an outside hitter, slammed the balls down at SI fiercely. Her serves were also very strong and resulted in a lot of aces. Hansen, a right side hitter, crushed balls into the corner of the court. These hits almost always hit the floor on SI’s side of the court. Though they were working hard, SI’s frustration was apparent by the time they lost the second game 25 to 15. Presentation’s spirits were up as they entered the third game with a lot of confidence.
The third game surely made Pres girls proud. All of the girls were working as hard as they could, even with the advantage against Saint Ignatius. Dvorak, a libero, was also playing very well. She was on her toes and ready to dig any ball hit at her. Whenever SI would try to trick the defense and tip the ball instead of hit it, Pres’ defense was there to pick it up and make a kill out of it. Nothing could get past the Presentation defense. Every girl on the team also had very consistent serves. With around half the team jump serving, balls were being fired at SI. There were not many serves that did not make it over the net or went out of bounds. This third game was won 25 to 14.
All in all, Presentation performed very well against Saint Ignatius. The girls worked together as a team and truly made the spectators proud. Coach Cooling, excited about the win, stated “It was an amazing game. We couldn’t have played any better. The seniors were phenomenal. The game was a must-win for us and we dominated from beginning to end.” The team is now competing in CCS; best luck to them and go Panthers!