Former Vaq held back
The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level.
Mike McDonald (Glendale Community College, 2007) Southern Oregon senior quarterback: The major injury (a broken tibia and fibula) McDonald suffered last year hasn’t left him tentative. The junior battled his way from No. 7 to the top of Southern Oregon’s depth chart in the offseason, started and was dynamic in its season opener Aug. 27 on the road against Montana Tech.
The former Vaquero couldn’t keep up his torrid pace on Saturday in the second game of the season, running into Portland State’s stingy defense. The Portland State Vikings shut the Raiders out, holding them to 107 total yards on offense, shutting McDonald down in the process. He completed 11 of his 23 passes for 24 yards, threw an interception and picked up 18 rushing yards on six attempts.
It was a much different story in Southern Oregon’s season opener, as the senior went off and threw for three touchdowns and 316 yards, connecting on 28 of his 40 passes — one of which was intercepted. McDonald ended the game with a pass efficiency rating of 156.11 and also rushed for 42 yards on nine attempts. It wasn’t enough to deliver a Raiders victory, as they fell to Montana Tech, 50-47, in double overtime.
McDonald broke a 30-yard run and was pushed out of bounds at the five-yard line with his team down 10 late in the third quarter. He was shaken up on the play and sat out the next two snaps when disaster struck. The Raiders drive came to a screeching halt, on second-and-goal from the 1-yard line, when the team’s backup quarterback fumbled the snap and Montana Tech recovered the football. It was one of three turnovers that cost Southern Oregon the game.
Southern Oregon (0-2) has a bye next week and will look to get in the win column in its next game against Willamette on Sept. 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Jenna Orlandini (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2009) University of Washington libero redshirt sophomore: Just like any libero should, Orlandini is leading the University of Washington in digs so far this season with 68.
The currently eighth-ranked Huskies are eyeing a trip to the Final Four this year after reaching the Elite Eight in 2010. So far, Washington has been on top of its game, going 5-0 to start the season. Orlandini’s squad has only dropped one of its 16 sets to open the year.
The Sacred Heart graduate has 14 assists and five aces so far this year. Orlandini had a game-high in digs (21) for the Huskies this season in the championship game of the Long Beach State Mizuno Invitational against No. 22 ranked Long Beach State on Aug. 27.
The Huskies defeated the 49ers, 25-13, 15-25, 29-27, 25-11, for the tournament title and Orlandini was named the named the tournament’s Most Valuable Libero after posting 41 digs in three games.
Washington continued its dominance, sweeping through its first two opponents in the Northwest Challenge, Portland State and Gonzaga. The Huskies beat the Vikings, 25-12, 25-21, 25-18, Friday night and Gonzaga, 27-25, 25-15, 25-20, on Saturday. Orlandini has kept up her solid play, adding 11 digs against Portland State and 16 more against Gonzaga.
The University of Washington closed out the Northwest Challenge against Boise State Saturday evening.
Rosa Del Toro (Glendale Community College, 2010) Long Beach State senior cross-country runner: Long Beach State’s women didn’t come out on top in their season opener, the Asics Season Opener at Carbon Canyon Park in Brea, Saturday morning, but Del Toro did her part.
The senior ran to a first-place finish in the 6,000-meter race with a time of 22 minutes 3.7 seconds. The 49ers’ women took second place overall with 61 points, while the men came in first with 25 points. Heath Reedy led the men with a first-place finish of his own in the 8,000-meter race (25:08.4).
“We’re very happy on what we saw this morning,” Long Beach State Coach Patrick Cunniff told LongBeachState.com. “We executed our early season race plans as we had really good performances today. Obviously, it’s great to have someone win like both Heath and Rosa did. We had strong performances out of the kids that ran this morning. I thought they listened well and really responded to what we were looking for.”
Nina Moore (Glendale Community College, 2010) Long Beach State senior cross-country runner:
Moore wasn’t too far behind Del Toro in the Asics Season Opener, as two GCC products accounted for Long Beach State’s top-two times in the women’s 6K at Brea’s Carbon Canyon Park on Saturday.
The senior’s mark of 22:25.3 was good enough for fourth place, putting Long Beach State in a pretty good position to take first in both events, but the No. 3 through 5 runners for the 49ers’ women slipped to 11th, 20th and 26th place, respectively, and the team came in second with 61 points. Long Beach State will continue its season next week at the UC Irvine Invitational on Sept. 10.
Dietrich Riley (St. Francis High, 2010) UCLA sophomore safety: Riley is determined to make a big impact in UCLA’s secondary this year, but he didn’t have much of a chance to in the Bruins’ season opener against Houston on Saturday after not getting the start at strong safety.
The former Golden Knight had two assisted tackles in the game, as UCLA’s secondary had difficulty containing the Cougars’ aerial offensive attack. Case Keenum, Houston’s starting quarterback, connected on 30 of his 40 passes for 310 yards and two touchdowns. Down 31-14 after the first half, the Bruins mounted a comeback, but it wasn’t enough, as the Cougars held on for a 38-34 win.
UCLA will look to get a win in its home opener Saturday against San Jose State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.