The No. 5 seed Soquel High’s boys volleyball team beat No. 12 Summit Shasta 24-26, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22 in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs on Monday.

Nathan McCarthey recorded a couple of aces during his six-point service run in the final set to help carry the Knights to the win.

The Knights (15-13 overall), the third-place finisher in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, played at No. 4 Monta Vista (23-12) of Cupertino in the quarterfinals on Tuesday evening, after the Sentinel went to press.

The Matadors, the fourth-place finisher in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division, swept No. 13 University Prep (18-8) of San Jose 25-12, 25-15, 25-12 in the first round.

The Black Bears of Daly City, the champion of the Private Schools Athletic League’s North Division, sees their season end with a 16-11 record.

No. 2 Harbor (25-5), the SCCAL Tournament champion after finishing second in the regular season, hosted No. 7 Burlingame (25-7) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday evening. The Panthers swept No. 10 Christopher (22-10) of Gilroy 25-20, 25-22, 25-19 in the first round.

Santa Cruz (30-3), the SCCAL’s unbeaten regular-season champion for a third straight season, earned the No. 2 seed in the prestigious Open Division and hosted No. 7 Los Gatos (18-10) on Tuesday evening.

The Wildcats were the runner-up to Harker (24-7) in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division.

High school baseball

At Soquel 4, Aptos 1: The Knights won their make-up game to secure no worse than a share of their first SCCAL title since 2015 on Monday.

Junior Sam Whelan had two hits, one RBI, and a run scored for the Knights (23-1, 12-1). Junior Hudson Summerrill had a hit, one RBI, and a run scored. Junior Connor Corlett doubled and had one RBI. Seniors Gabe Virgallito and Noah Piona each had a hit and run scored.

Alec Mendoza had two of the Mariners’ six hits. Freshman Damien Espinoza doubled and scored, and Jason Yager had one RBI.

Junior Dylan Hull (8-0) earned his second complete-game win in league. He gave up six hits and one earned run over seven innings with five strikeouts and no walks.

Mendoza took the loss.

On Tuesday afternoon, Soquel played at Harbor (15-10, 6-7), while Aptos (10-14, 5-8) hosted Santa Cruz (13-11, 10-3).

Monte Vista Christian 9, at Alisal 4 >> Sophomore Mikie Melenudo had three hits, two RBI, three stolen bases, and scored twice in the Mustangs’ Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division win on Monday.

Senior Dante Darnell had one hit, three RBI, and scored twice for the Mustangs (20-5, 10-3). Senior Aiden McDaniel had two hits and two RBI. Senior Brady Cortez had two hits and scored twice. Sophomore Parker Brown had hit, two walks, and scored twice, and senior Carter Wright had two hits, two stolen bases, and scored a run.

Junior pitcher Zack Gong gave up four runs over six innings and earned the win. He gave up three hits, four hits, and struck out three batters.

MVC hosts Alisal (13-10, 6-7) in the teams’ Mission Division finale on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

High school softball

Scotts Valley 8, at San Lorenzo Valley 2 >> Natalie Murray-Skalland counted a two-run home run among her two hits, and the Falcons secured no worse than a share of the SCCAL title with their win Monday.

Jazzy Phillips had two hits, including a solo home run for the Falcons (18-5-1, 11-1). Jazzy Doubek had two hits and two RBI, and Gracie Delgado and Nick Powell each had two hits.

“It’s good to see all the hard work pay off offensively,” Falcons coach Jeremy Wilson said. “We’ve worked hard on hitting this season and it was fun to see some of the girls have big games tonight.”

Winning pitcher Sofie Seese gave up seven hits, one walk and one unearned run in her complete-game outing while striking out six batters.

The Falcons repeated as league champions.

“I’m proud of this team for battling through all the distractions and moments of self doubt,” Wilson said. “Back-to-back league championships in any sport is a pretty special accomplishment. It’s a great way to send this group of seniors off that have been playing together since 8U.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Scotts Valley hosted Soquel (3-10, 2-10), while SLV (11-8, 9-4) played at Santa Cruz (7-13, 5-6).

At Alvarez 3, Watsonville 0 >> The Wildcatz were held to four hits in their PCAL Gabilan Division loss on Monday.

Layla Romero, Ruiz Bella, Calina Casillas, and Jillian Lerma hit singles for the sixth-place Wildcatz (12-12, 2-9).

Bella Hanson had two hits, two RBI, three stolen bases, and scored a run for the third-place Eagles (15-10, 6-5).

Dani Amendola struck out 10 batter in her complete-game win. Amelia Martinez took the loss.

Watsonville hosts third-place Hollister (13-11, 6-5) to close the regular season on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Gonzales 29, at Pajaro Valley 6; 5 inn. >> Hailey Erskine had two hits and four RBI for the Grizzlies in their PCAL Cypress Division loss on Monday.

Hemeria Delatorre had two hits and scored twice for the Grizzlies (7-11, 5-5). Nadia Renteria also scored twice.

Pajaro Valley hosts MVC (11-14, 4-11) in a PCAL non-division game on Tuesday afternoon.

Physicals

Pre-Participation Evaluation: Nearly 1,000 high school student-athletes across Santa Cruz County are expected to participate in three upcoming free sports physical clinics hosted by Sutter Health, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and local partners.

The healthcare providers have come together fore more than 30 years to offer free youth sports physicals across the county.

Last year alone, nearly 700 students were seen at the events, which now include cardiac screening through EKGs and other resources from Santa Cruz County’s broader healthcare community.

“This is more than just a sports physical—it’s a gateway to care for some of these kids,” said Matt Ryan, a program manager of Sports Medicine PAMF Sutter Health Santa Cruz. “Many of them don’t have a regular doctor. Some have never seen a provider at all. This helps change that as all kids should have larger scale annual physicals with pediatricians as well as follow ups for health issues throughout the year.”

The first event of 2025 is Wednesday at Harbor High in Santa Cruz at 2 p.m. Watsonville hosts an event Friday at 2 p.m. and SLV in Felton hosts an event Monday at 2 p.m.

Men’s golf

U.S. Open Local Qualifying >> Lafayette’s Ryan Burnett, San Jose’s Berk Harvey and Danville’s Joshua McCarthy each shot 4-under-par 68 to share medalist honors at 2025 U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Stonebrae Country Club in Hayward on Monday.

The low five scorers advanced from the site to Final Qualifying. The cut line was 70.

San Diego’s Kyle Maspat (70) and Dublin’s Hayden Hui (70) also advanced. They survived a three-player playoff with Costas Panay (70) of Redmond, Washington, for the final two spots.