Honor roll: The week’s best performances by San Mateo County high school athletes

Poppy McKenzie, Aragon volleyball. The sophomore is showing she and the Lady Dons are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season after leading the way to a four-set win over Carlmont in last Thursday’s PAL Bay Division opener. McKenzie recorded her third double-double of the season, totaling 20 kills and 11 digs while swinging at a .400 clip.

Hayden Haba, Burlingame football. The senior running back had a career-high rushing in the Panthers’ 50-22 win over Arroyo-San Lorenzo. Haba carried the ball 20 times, churning out 225 yards, with a long of 61 yards. He ended up scoring three touchdowns on the ground and added a fourth on a pass from quarterback Nick Armstrong, who threw for 152 yards.

Leila Abrams, Sacred Heart Prep volleyball. The Gators are off to a 5-0 start this season, their best start since 2006. Abrams is a big reason why. The 5-9 sophomore outside hitter finished out non-league preseason play last Tuesday by leading SHP past Menlo-Atherton in three sets, recording a double-double of 17 kills and 14 digs. She followed that with 20 kills in SHP’s sweep of rival Menlo in last Thursday’s WBAL Foothill Division opener, adding nine digs, falling one shy of another three-set double-double.

Jack Freehill, Menlo School football. The senior dual-threat quarterback had another game of 200-plus yards of total offense in a 35-0 win over Branham. Freehill was 10 for 20 for 126 yards and two touchdowns passing, while also leading the Knights in rushing with 125 yards and two more scores on 11 carries. Altogether, Freehill accounted for 251 yards of offense.

Alex Stoffel, Menlo School boys’ water polo. Hunter Coleman may be the Knights’ go-to scorer, but Stoffel is the one that makes the offense go for Menlo. In pair of wins last week — 11-8 over St. Francis in the WCAL opener and a non-league, 12-11 victory over over Los Gatos — Stoffel combined for seven assists, three steals, two blocks and two goals.

Madyson Quintanilla, South City flag football. The sophomore led the Warriors to their first-ever flag football win, 24-6 over Terra Nova, as South City is fielding a flag football team for the first time this season. Quintanilla threw a touchdown pass and rushed for a second.

Lukas Fitzgerald, San Mateo football. The junior is in his first season as the Bearcats’ starting quarterback and he is making is presence felt. He became the ninth player of the Jeff Scheller era to rush for 200 yards or more, finishing with 206 yards on 19 carries, scoring three times in a 31-7 win over Aragon.

Joslin Fiel, Sequoia volleyball. The Ravens opened their PAL Bay Division slate with a stunning five-set victory over Burlingame, their first win over the Panthers in 21 years. Fiel, who entered the day with 35 digs through six matches on the season, was the anchor of the defense with a season-best 26 digs. She also recorded three service aces and Sequoia racked up 13 aces as a team, led by junior Maya Matossian’s four aces.

Austin Sotto, Carlmont football. While the Scots came out on the wrong end of a 40-37 loss to Monte Vista Christian, Sotto had an epic night on both offense and special teams. On the receiving end of junior quarterback Brody Zirelli’s 252 passing yards, Sotto totaled eight catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns. All told, the junior finished with 352 all-purpose yards, racking up 123 yards of returns on kickoffs and an explosive 53-yard return on a punt.

Chloe Amayun, Mills girls’ cross country. The senior set the pace and never let up in the 12th grade race at the early-season Fighting Knights’ Joust cross-country meet Saturday at Crystal Springs. Amayun took the race championship with a time of 19 minutes, 53.1 seconds, leaving her all alone in first place ahead of Aragon senior Dylan Lee’s second-place time of 20:09.6. Only three runners logged better times than Amayun on the day, as the 11th grade race featured Leigh junior Gelila Hailu’s first-place time of 18:15.7, followed by Monte Vista Christian’s Finley Castro (19:34.2) and Leigh’s Ashlyn Garner (19:45.6).

Joey Donati, Terra Nova football. The senior quarterback put on quite a show in Terra Nova’s 27-24 win at Capuchino. Donati went for 241 total yards, going 9-of-17 passing for 146 yards and two touchdowns by air, while adding 14 rushes for 95 yards and one touchdown on the ground. As if that wasn’t enough, Donati also rotated in on defense at his natural position of defensive end, totaling five tackles on the night, including three solos.

Gia Rivera, Notre Dame-Belmont volleyball. Rivera has been on quite a tear to start her senior season, but last Tuesday’s performance against Carlmont is going to be tough to top. Competing in the annual “Battle for Belmont” crosstown rivalry game, Notre Dame-Belmont claimed a four-set win, backed by Rivera’s terminating prowess. All the 6-1 outside hitter did was record a double-double with 16 digs and a new career-high of 34 kills, topping her previous best of 33 kills from Sept. 23, 2023, in a five-set win over Folsom.