Honor roll: The week’s top performances from San Mateo County high school athletes

Jessica Dean, Hillsdale volleyball. The Lady Knights were firing on all cylinders in Thursday’s Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division opener, sweeping past Sequoia to run their winning streak to seven matches, and 21 straight sets, to start the season. Dean was in fine form in notching a .406 hitting percentage to record her sixth double-double of the year, totaling 16 kills and 12 digs along with three blocks.

Josiah Yeager, Hillsdale boys’ water polo. Hillsdale won its PAL Ocean Division opener 16-7 against Sequoia last Thursday with Yeager leading the way. The sophomore attacker accounted for half his team’s scores, racking up eight goals on the day.

Makoa Ah Tou, Hillsdale football. The Fighting Knights shut out El Camino 42-0, scoring 35 of their points in the first half. Ah Tou had a hand (or, more appropriately, his feet) in most of them, rushing for four touchdowns on the night. The junior running back took 12 carries for a career-high 163 yards and has recorded back-to-back 100-yard performances.

Sergio Beltran and Carter Jung, Menlo School football. Through the first three weeks of the season, there has been no individual force greater than Beltran on the county gridiron. The senior quarterback threw for five touchdowns and ran for another in the Knights’ 56-6 blowout of Mission-SF at Cartan Field. Three of those scoring passes were to Jung for 27, 21 and 32 yards, and he added a fourth score on a pick-6 in the closing minutes of the first half. Through three games, Menlo has scored 168 cumulative points, with Beltran totaling 17 touchdowns throws.

Mone Hokafonu, Aragon football. The senior running delivered a big-time performance as the Dons rolled to a 41-7 victory over Woodside, their first win of the season. Hokafonu totaled four touchdowns, three rushing and one receiving, while running for 147 yards.

Mina Mittler, Aragon volleyball. The Lady Dons snapped a five-match non-league losing streak by opening PAL Bay Division play with a four-set win over Carlmont. Mittler was a force off the right side as the senior totaled a team-high 12 kills.

Alphonse Ortega, Mills football. The Vikings came up short in a 34-33 loss to Yerba Buena, having a 32-yard field-goal attempt blocked on the game’s final play. “Fonzy” put Mills in a position to try for its first win of the season with a remarkable night. The indefatigable Ortega totaled 28 carries for 254 yards and four touchdowns on offense, while adding nine tackles and one interception on defense.

Alyssa Batang, South City girls’ golf. Two golfers shot 36s at Poplar Creek last week — Batang and San Mateo’s Lindsey Huang — but Batang gets the Honor Roll nod because her performance led her team to victory. The Warriors outshot Woodside 217-223 in last Thursday’s PAL Ocean matchup. The following day, Huang shot a 36 but her Bearcats fell to Aragon 251-258.

Mellanie Hu, Summit Shasta volleyball. The senior libero was a digging machine in the Black Bears’ four-set victory over Mercy-Burlingame last Thursday. Hu recorded 22 digs along with four service aces, both season-highs. The senior missed her career-high in digs by 1, a 23-dig performance she enjoyed as a sophomore, Sept. 18, 2019 against More-San Jose.

Travis Murphy, Serra boys’ water polo. The senior center defender was the picture of consistency in the Padres’ championship run at the Aragon Boys’ Varsity Water Polo Tournament. Serra rolled past Hillsdale and Carmel in pool play to match up with host Aragon in the championship match, scoring a 16-5 victory to take the title. Murphy, a third-year varsity player, didn’t allow a goal from the center spot in any of the three matches, and paired with senior goalkeeper Nick Musgrave to limit the Padres’ three opponents to 17 total goals in the tourney.