The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.
With just two weeks left in the regular season for most California Community College Athletic Association football teams, Riverside City College remains a unanimous choice of the state’s football coaches, taking all 15 first place votes in this week’s poll — as conducted by the JC Athletic Bureau.
Last week’s top six teams were all victorious, with most league races remaining up for grabs.
No. 4 College of San Mateo (7-1) has Northern California’s best overall National record but is in a 4-way Bay 6 League deadlock at 2-1 with No. 7 Laney (6-2), No. 12 San Francisco (5-3), and No. 13 Diablo Valley (5-3). DVC is at Laney Friday night. CSM closes at CCSF Nov. 12. Reigning state champion San Francisco created the jam last Friday with a 17-16 overtime victory at Diablo Valley, which had clipped San Mateo the previous week. CCSF & DVC both scored quickly in OT but the Vikings missed on their PAT conversion kick.
No. 9 American River (5-3) puts its 3-0 NorCal League lead on the line Saturday at No. 10 Sierra (6-2), which fell out of first place after last week’s 46-20 loss to No. 8 Butte (5-3). The latter pair are 2-1 in league and hoping for a 3-way deadlock. No. 17 Fresno (5-3) and No. 22 Modesto (4-4) are both 3-0 in the Valley, two games ahead of the pack. They could settle things in the Nov. 12 finale in Fresno.
Riverside (8-0) defeated formerly No. 20 El Camino, 45-10, and this Saturday visits co-No. 5 Cerritos (7-1) in the possible National Central League title decider. Mt. San Antonio (7-1), which moved up one spot to No. 2 this week, will visit Cerritos in a Nov. 12 finale. No. 3 Golden West (7-1) hosts No. 15 San Diego Mesa (5-3) this week before closing at co-No. 5 Fullerton (7-1) in Southern League deciders. All six Northern League teams are either 2-1 or 1-2 with two games left to sort it out.
Volleyball
College of San Mateo extended its Coast North Conference women’s volleyball lead last week, sweeping host Las Positas College in straight sets, 25-13, 25-10, 25-10.
Valerie Bruk had 13 kills and Naomie Cremoux added 12.
The state No. 3 ranked Lady Bulldogs are 6-0 in league and 16-3 overall, with an 11-game winning streak; also have won 14 straight sets.
They have two remaining Coast home matches, Nov. 2 vs. Hartnell, and Nov. 4, vs. Skyline, both at 6:30 p.m. CSM finishes on the road the following week at Ohlone and defending champion Cabrillo (4-1), which has not lost a league contest in Aptos since 2007. San Mateo has defeated the Seahawks in both 2021 and this year at College Heights. Last year’s triumph ended Cabrillo’s 121 match Coast record winning streak.
Men’s basketball
Any preseason poll is, well, a roll of the dice. But thanks to the fall showcases we have an idea who will be the top teams entering the 2022-23 season.
Must admit, it is nice to see some new faces like No. 9 Cabrillo, No. 12 Cosumnes River, No. 13 Porterville, No. 17 West Hills-Lemoore and No. 19 Mendocino in the north and No 8. Los Angeles Trade Tech and No 19. Pasadena City in the south making the preseason poll.
The Coast-North is shaping up to be the state’s best conference race with No. 1 San Francisco, the state’s defending champions, No. 4 Chabot, No. 10 Las Positas, a Final Eight participant last season, No. 14 Foothill, and No. 16 San Mateo all opening the season ranked in the north.
The Coast-South with No. 3 West Valley, No. 7 San Jose and No. 9 Cabrillo will also be a race to watch.
All three San Mateo County teams will be in action this week, with Skyline tipping off against Marin in San Bruno Tuesday night. Cañada will host Modesto at 5 p.m. Thursday, while CSM will be on the road for the four-day San Jose CC Tipoff Classic. The Bulldogs open at 6 p.m. Thursday against Feather River. Friday, they’ll take on Merced at 4 p.m.; Lassen at 1 p.m. Saturday and host San Jose at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Men’ soccer
Skyline snapped a five match winless streak with a pair of shutout wins last week. The Trojans opened the week with a 3-0 victory voer Monterey Peninsula and closed the week with a 1-0 win over De Anza.
Skyline improved to 3-4 in Coast-North play and 10-4-1 overall.
Cañada also posted a pair of Coast-South wins, getting past Cabrillo 3-2 before downing Monterey Peninsula 2-1.
The Colts improved to 4-2-1 in conference play and 8-6-1 overall.
Women’ soccer
Cañada extended its winning streak to four in a row with a 2-1 win over Las Positas, followed by a 4-1 win over rival Skyline.
The Colts sit in second place in the Coast-North with a 3-2 record and 12-3 overall.
Skyline’s loss to Cañada was the only game scheduled for the Trojans last week. The defeat drops them to 1-2-1 in conference play and 6-4-1 overall.
