Maderans in College: Hefner excels at Fresno State

With two matches left in the season, Brielle Hefner (Madera) has played in all 27 matches for the Fresno State women’s volleyball team. She is second on the team with 173 kills and also has 21 blocks. The Bulldogs host Utah State tonight in the home season finale at 6 p.m. at the Save Mart Center. They close out the season on Tuesday at San Jose State. Justin Gallegos (Madera South) is tied for the Missouri Valley College team lead with five interceptions this season. He has returned those interceptions for 115 yards. Gallegos, who’s brother Jordan is a senior at Augsburg College, is third in the conference in interceptions and is fifth in return yards. He has 41 tackles this season and has seven passes defended. Jordan (Madera), a senior, has played in every game for the Augsburg Auggies and had a 70-yard touchdown run in a loss to Bethel University on Nov. 5. Jordan Alvarez (Madera South) had a catch in each of the final two games of the season for Bethel College for a total of 17 yards. University of Pacific freshman Jasmine Gonzalez (Madera) led the Tigers to a ninth place finish at the West Coach Conference championships on Oct. 28. She led the Tigers for the second race in a row and finished 43rd in the field. Gonzalez crossed the finish line with teammate Emily Wylie to lead the Tigers in at the NCAA West Regionals on Friday. It was the second time in the season Gonzalez and Wylie finished with identical times. Dominique Andrews (Madera South) concluded her first women’s volleyball season at UC Merced with eight kills in the semifinals of the California Pacific Athletic Conference tournament, a three-set loss to Benedictine. She finished with 204 kills and played in 89 of the team’s 98 sets. She was second on the team in kills and also had 66 blocks. Antelope Valley senior Miranda Brunner (Madera) concluded her career by playing in 20 of Antelope Valley’s 24 matches. She finished with 19 kills to go with 14 aces and 50 digs. Marcus McCoy (Madera South) recorded three tackles for Upper Iowa in a Saturday loss to Minnesota State University in his final collegiate game. McCoy was seventh on the team with 47 tackles, including 31 solo tackles. He had six passes defended. At the CalPac cross country championships, hosted by UC Merced at Woodward Park, UC Merced’s Angelica Costilla (Madera South) laced second on the Bobcats to help the team place third overall. Karina Martinez (Madera South) placed 14th and both were named to the CalPac second team. Ismael Guzman (Madera South) placed third for the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds cross country team to lead them to a fourth place finish at the PacWest Championships. Guzman finished 27th overall. On the women’s side, Ann Poythress (Madera) placed second on the team in 27th place to lead the Sunbirds to a seventh place finish. William Penn middle blocker Lilly Martinez (Madera South) closed out her first season with 106 kills in 95 sets this season. The Fresno Pacific University women’s soccer team closed its season Nov. 5 with a 4-2 win over Hawaii Pacific. Ana Walker (Madera South) played in all 17 matches and recorded a goal and an assist. Former Madera quarterback Vincent Espinoza led the West Hills Falcons football team to a Golden Coast Conference championship and a third consecutive bowl berth after a 34-14 victory over Gavilan College. Espinoza was 17-of-24 for 223 yards and threw for two touchdowns in the win Saturday. The Falcons face the Shasta Knights in Redding for the American Division championship on Saturday at 1 p.m. College of the Sequoias closed out a 3-7 season with a loss Saturday to the Fresno City College Rams. However, free safety Logan Pierce (Liberty) led COS with nine tackles, including five solo. He also assisted on a tackle for loss. Pierce played in all 10 games and recorded 58 tackles and averaged almost six tackles per game. The Fresno City College women’s soccer team, with a big Madera contingent, closed out the Central Valley Conference with a 9-0-1 record with a 1-0 win over Cerro Coso on Friday. Madera’s Juliet Trembley led the Rams with eight goals. Jasmine Garibay (Madera South) led the Rams with 19 points and nine assists to go with five goals. Leila Monzon (Madera South) was third on the team with 15 points, but was second with six goals. Sophia Zertuche (Madera South) added five goals and two assists. Kimberly Montoya (Madera South) played in just five matches and scored a goal. Defender Oksana Reynoso (Madera) played in every match.