Vote now: Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week
Make your choice for the top performance among girls high school athletes from Oct. 17-22
Editor’s note: We prohibit the use of bots and any other artificial methods of voting. If we suspect the use of non-human votes, it could lead to disqualification of candidates, and a permanent suspension of the Athlete of the Week poll.
Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) girls Athlete of the Week poll.
For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.
This week, we consider performances from Oct. 17-22.
Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.
Votes by email are not counted.
Scroll to the bottom for the poll.
Winners are announced each Friday online and, starting Sept. 30, in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.
Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.
We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.
We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.
On to the nominees:
Monizha Azizi, Deer Valley water polo: It was a good week for both Azizi and the 2-0 Deer Valley team, which featured wins against Concord and Freedom. The senior Azizi scored four goals and had an assist.
Karly Bordin, Notre Dame-Belmont volleyball: The outside hitter was prolific in her two matches against Sacred Heart Prep and Castilleja. The junior had 41 kills, three aces, and 53 receptions.
Kira Clark, Mission San Jose water polo: In two games against Moreau Catholic and Alhambra, the junior scored 10 goals and had an assist. This helped the team finish 14-5 and with a chance to possibly compete in the NCS sectional.
Morgan Daetz, San Ramon Valley volleyball: The senior star for one of the best teams in the Bay Area had a huge game against a ranked Monte Vista team. In the 3-2 win, Daetz had 42 assists, 16 digs and four kills.
Josephine Hansen, Westmont volleyball: The senior libero was a steady presence on the back line in a 3-0 win over Leland. Hansen had three assists, 12 digs and 26 receptions.
Gabriella Hedden, Leland field hockey: The senior goalkeeper has been almost flawless over her last two matches. After shutting out Ann Sobrato the week prior, Hedden played all 60 minutes and had five saves in a hard-fought 1-0 loss to Live Oak.
Kaila Huynh, Yerba Buena volleyball: Huynh was a big part of a 3-0 week for Yerba Buena. In wins against Pioneer, Lincoln and Del Mar, she had 56 digs, eight kills and a whopping 138 assists.
Rachel Ning, Harker volleyball: The setter had 49 of her season’s 237 assists in two matches last week. She also had five digs and 12 serving aces.
Chisom Okaforize, Heritage volleyball: The Patriots clinched their third straight Bay Valley Athletic League regular season title and finished 10-0 in the league after defeating Pittsburg and Liberty. Okaforize, the team’s middle-hitter, had 15 kills, four aces and four blocks as a steady presence up front.
Roselin Saavedra-Silva, Castlemont cross country: Saavedra-Silva finished almost a minute faster than second place in the 5,000 meters event at the Bay Bridge meet. She finished first with a time of 21:27.30, which was also her best time of the season.