Lady Cougars fall to Kew Forest 4-1

The Girls Tennis team took on Kew Forest on Friday, September 27 at Juniper Valley Park. Martin Luther had its first win for the First Doubles, just one week after they had their first win for the Third Singles.

That First Doubles duo was Toya Brown and Mia Gonzalez with an 8:3 victory over Natalia Zeid and Elena Garone. The girls showed good rallies and strong serves to come out on top.

“I’m very proud of my girls” says Head Coach Leslie Aguirre. “Having them all here playing well is something I really like to see, especially how they are treating the other team and creating such a positive environment,” she added.

Anybody who watched the match could easily tell how much fun the girls were having. Coach Aguirre is respected very much by her players and that high sportsmanship they all have when they are on the court is a reflection of their coach.

The season is still early and there is room for improvement. The key part of the game Coach Aguirre is going to be stressing in practice is the serving. “Once they master their serves, they’ll master the game,” she said.

Their next match is Wednesday, October 2 at Juniper Valley Park at 4:15 against Portledge.  

Cougars Soccer can't hold off the Portledge Panthers

Martin Luther School Cougars soccer team fought hard in their matchup against the Portledge Panthers but fell by the final score of 4-3.

Portledge struck first in the contest, putting a goal through in the fifth minute on a breakdown in the Cougar defense. The team looked as though they were caught off guard early but coach Matt Moran kept faith.

“They needed to keep composure and settle down, which they did,” said Coach Moran.

The team responded well, putting together aggressive attacks with their forward and midfield play on the offensive end of the field. The aggressiveness paid off as the Cougars were able to draw a hand-ball penalty in the box against Portledge.

Senior Alex Ortiz was able to capitalize on the penalty shot and evened the score, 1-1 in the 23^rd minute.

Junior Franco Libano played the role of the orchestrator as well as the attacker late in the first half as well. He had a nice cross, which was nearly put in as well as a strike that just sailed over the top of the net.

The first half could be summed up as having inconsistent play and missed opportunities from both the Cougars and the Panthers.

Coach Moran made changes at halftime, which gave the team the extra spark they needed after the break. Freshman Tyler Fayconsolo was moved from defense to forward as well as Libano being moved to midfield.

Martin Luther came out with loads of energy, scoring early in the second half. Fayconsolo got behind the defense on a nice run into the box and simply flicked the ball over Portledge’s goalkeeper in the 42^nd minute.

Portledge responded with three consecutive goals within a span of 18 minutes in the second half, which left the Cougars trailing, 2-4.

With just eight minutes to go in the match, Freshman Andres Buitrago was able to bring the Cougars to within one goal off a nice pass to the middle of the box.

Martin Luther fought hard but time proved to be against them late in this game.

“We fought, and fought, and fought, and that’s all I can ask of them,” said Coach Moran.

Despite the score, Cougars' sophomore goalkeeper Jose Cabrera had multiple impressive saves in the contest.

Their next game will be a home match at the Metropolitan Oval on Friday, September 27 at 4 pm.

By: Frank Stampfl

Lady Cougars volleyball team outlast OSNA

The Lady Cougars volleyball team was able to pull off the victory in a very close match against Our Savior New American Lady Pioneers on Monday.

The Lady Cougars won the first set handily, 25-15. The same team did not come out for the second game, as they allowed OSNA to hang with them at 19-19. The Lady Cougars struggled closing out dropping the set 25-21 to the Lady Pioneers.

"They got a little complacent, that mentally because they won the first set they could relax and not be as productive in the second set," said Lady Cougars head coach Ann Boyle. "We are still working with some individuals to develop confidence and team chemistry."

The match came down to a decisive third set, that began with Leslly Marmolejo serving for Martin Luther. Her impact was felt as she led the Lady Cougars to a 9-0 run. Martin Luther had a commanding 14-2 lead, but the Pioneers would not go away. They went on a 7-0 run, before serving the ball out of bounds.

"At the beginning they were focused and into it," Boyle said.

The Lady Cougars could not take advantage and OSNA got the ball back trailing 16-10. They went on a run, bringing the score to 16-15, with the Lady Cougars almost squandering the lead. After trading points back, the Lady Cougars found themselves with a 21-18 lead. This is when Marmolejo stepped up to serve again. Behind her serving the Lady Cougars were able to take a 23-18 lead, with victory within reach.

The Pioneers would not go down easy as Martin Luther served with the score at 24-21. The Pioneers managed to return the serve, but Franchon Martinez bumped them a ball that they could not handle, securing the win for the Lady Cougars.

Boyle was happy to escape with the win, but see's a lot of areas of improvement for her players.

"They need to be consistent in their execution and a lot of it comes down to fundamentals," said Boyle. "We hope that each perspective person that their particular strengths are build on and that the areas that they have been giving feed back to work on, they take that to heart," said Boyle.

The Lady Cougars will look to build upon this win going forward.

By: Michael Florio

2013 Martin Luther Lady Cougar Invitational Volleyball Tournament

The Lady Cougars hosted their annual Volleyball Tournament today. They were beaten in their three first round games. They played the first game in their pool and lost 15-6, 15-6 to UNIS. They then took a seat for two games until they played Kew Forest, losing 15-9, 15-10. They stayed on the court to play Berkeley Carroll losing 15-3,15-1.

When the second round came along, Martin Luther finally got some revenge for what happened last year in the seventh vs eighth place game. They lost to Our Savior New American last year, but today they were able to win the very same game. 15-13,15-7.

Led by seniors Xena Anderson and Franchon Martinez, they were able to improve their teamwork and communication to pull out the wins in the second round.

Despite the struggles they had early on, Anderson and Martinez are proud of the way their team fought back every time and hope to build on that in their next game which is Monday at home vs OSNA at 4:30 in the afternoon. Come out to support the Lady Cougars!

-Aaron Maldonado

2013 Fall Pep Rally

Martin Luther may be a small school, but the students and faculty showed great school spirit at the 2013 Fall Pep Rally on Friday. The opening celebration to the school year gave us a showcase of the Fall athletes as well as the first of many ‘lasts’ for the class of 2014. Never again will these seniors attend a Fall pep rally, and they certainly had their fun. With a special entrance, crazy relay races, and loud cheers, the Cougars eagerly welcomed the Fall season which features Volleyball, Soccer, Cross-Country, and Girls Tennis.

The athletics are an important part of what make this school memorable. We are here to build on that and help more people hear about the incredible athletic program that benefits so many student-athletes here at Martin Luther. As former students, we know what it feels like to be a part of this school, especially the athletics. We have been a part of nearly every team as well as participated in intramurals. We have gone on to study media and graduated from college with this career goal in mind. We share a passion for sports and communicating that with our audience be it via writing, video, social media, etc. We are going to be covering sports for Martin Luther and from what we saw at the pep rally Friday, it is going to be an exciting year!

-Aaron Maldonado

-Michael Florio

-Frank Stampfl