Rocklin remains unbeaten; DO, Whitney start strong

League play has already arrived on the prep girls volleyball scene and the race for the Sierra Foothill League crown is shaping up to be a tight one this season. Defending SFL champions Rocklin look to be the frontrunners again, but rivals Del Oro and Whitney have both posted strong starts as well. Here is how each team fared to start the season: Rocklin: The Thunder have been dominant to start the season, storming out to a 7-0 start and not dropping a single set in the process. Rocklin's senior class of Gianna Bogan, Addy Scheitlin, Rylee Heinz, Devon Schweitzer and Ava Pabalate have led the way so far, while sophomore Sophie Burns and freshman Sidney Jones have looked strong as well. Through 17 sets this season, the Thunder have tallied 236 kills with Scheitlin and Bogan have led the way offensively with 55 and 48 respectively. Heinz has been efficient as well with 38 kills on 74 swings. Scheitlin also leads the team in aces with 14 while Jones added eight. Pabalate has done her part in running the offense with 131 assists. After sweeping Christian Brothers to open the season on Aug. 27, Rocklin dominated the Milpitas Spikefest on Saturday with sweeps of San Jose-Santa Teresa, San Jose-Leland, Palo Alto and Los Altos. The Thunder opened SFL play on Monday with a 3-0 triumph over St. Francis before defeating Northern Section power Pleasant Valley of Chico 3-0 on Tuesday. Whitney: A quartet of sophomores have spearheaded the offense for the Wildcats (4-2). Logann Brown leads the way with 51 kills while Emi Stephens added 40. Adrianne Pennington has 32 kills and Alana Simpson has 20. Simpson and Brown have been consistent at the service line, tallying 11 and 10 aces respectively, while Brown has anchored the defense with a team-high 42 digs. Sophomore Kapri Orteza had racked up 89 assists. Whitney opened the season strong with wins over Inderkum, Bella Vista, Placer and El Dorado, but suffered its first two setbacks of the seasons falling to Vista del Lago 3-2 on Sept. 4 and Del Oro 3-0 on Monday in the SFL opener. Del Oro: Del Oro made quick work of Nevada Union on Sept. 3, sweeping the Miners 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-9) to wrap up nonleague play at 9-1. The Golden Eagles opened the season with key wins over Sac-Joaquin Section powers Christian Brothers 3-2 and Pleasant Grove 3-1 in August and carried that momentum into the High Sierra Tournament in Reno with six straight sweeps over Windsor, Reno, Escalon, Bishop O'Dowd, Castro Valley and Valor Christian. The only blemish was a 2-0 loss to Woodcreek in the finale.