Dunn Football Team Posts First W

By Michael Tseng
Dunn Student Journalist

Forget about the first game mistakes that plagued the Dunn Football team last weekend, the Earwigs really gave it all and pulled out a win on this past Saturday against Maricopa. The team fought until the last minute, the defense scored a two-points safety to surge into the lead; the game ended in a 22-20 victory for the Earwigs.

Dunn Football has played Maricopa every year for the past four years, and the team has always been a strong and friendly competitor. “In these four years, we lost to them on their field and won the other two games at home; I guess this year is our turn,” said Coach Martin. Nevertheless, Dunn Football also made history in this game. This is the first time ever for the Earwigs to succeed a fourth quarter comeback, “we knew we were in the ball game,” said Martin.

The game started when Ken Oppenborn, a senior defensive end, picked up a fumble against Maricopa. The team started weak on offense, but played strong on defense; Dunn caused two turnovers against Maricopa in the first quarter, including an interception from Jonny Hogan. Compared to last weekend, the Earwigs defense has grown in a quick beat.

The Earwigs fired up their offensive attack in the second quarter; Spencer Huttmann, a junior tight end caught a 20-yard toss from Quarterback Corbin Meyer and scored their first touchdown. In the third quarter, Hogan recovered the ball after Meyer ran for 40 yards and then fumbled on the one-yard line. Hogan’s recovery was good for the Earwigs’ second touchdown. Later, Meyer ran a “QB Sneak” and made their third touchdown three minutes before the clock stopped, leaving the score at 20-20. The most exciting part of the game happened when Connor McMorrow tackled a Maricopa running back and made two points safety to win the game.

In this second game, Dunn’s young players again performed tremendously well. Freshman Bryce McKibbin substituted for McMorrow at the tail back position on the second half, and McKibbin was able to run through gaps and made big plays for the team. Another freshman Jake Eisaguirre started the game as stationary guard; Eisaguirre not only helped the Dunn offense but also played a crucial role on defense.

Maybe the loss from last week made the team fight harder in this game. The crowd and all team members were the big factor to cause this first win. Cheers came out from everywhere, and it indeed bolstered the team confidence and encouraged them to stay strong on the field. Great game for the Dunn Earwigs!

The team’s next match versus Laguna Blanca on Saturday, October 2nd, away.

Earwigs Top Maricopa, 22-20

Connor McMorrow sweeps around left end during Saturday's gridiron victory.
Photo by Michael Tseng

Girls’ Tennis Remains Unbeaten with Win over Carpinteria

By Sazan Pasori

Student Journalist

Yesterday, September 22^nd, Dunn girls’ tennis ventured to Carpinteria to play in their second league match. Initially, the team was skeptical, not having played Carpinteria before, they anticipated a loss, little did they know what the outcome would be three and a-half hours later.

The team struggled in the beginning as all three doubles teams were well matched. Following a number of substitutions, the Earwigs were able to pull out a lead. Singles players Danielle Walker (sophomore), Tiffany Vanichvaroon (junior), and Hayley Harrison (senior), stayed strong through tense and long matches. Senior Ashley Song, and senior captain Audrey Volmer, played at number one doubles winning two of their three matches. Meanwhile at number two doubles, senior captain Julia Jones, and new sophomore Sunita Williams, won one of their two matches. 

After starting at number two doubles along with Katri Morrison-Goulias (freshman), new freshman Danielle McNally was substituted into number three singles where she won her match 6-0. Head coach Beth Brownson exclaimed, “She did so great! I really look forward to putting her in at number three singles. I think she’ll continue to play singles instead of doubles if she keeps playing like she did.” In a tie-breaking final match, junior Tiffany Vanichvaroon pulled out a win at 6-1. The team’s final score was 10-8. Dunn girls’ tennis now goes undefeated, and will be playing another match at home this Saturday against Besant Hill at 2pm. Come out and support!

Tiffany Vanichvaroon readies for a return in her tie-breaking match

Girls' Varsity Volleyball Sports Winning Record

Jane Pugh (left) and Maddy Carroll rise to the challenge

Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Wins Again

By Casey Crawford
Student Journalist

Behind Andie de Werd’s 12 aces and Maddie Carroll’s 9 kills, the Dunn volleyball team rebounded from a harsh loss to Mission Prep and defeated Carpinteria in a roller coaster 3-1 victory.

Dunn started off hot, with de Werd acing four in a row to open up game one, and never looked back, dominating Carp 25-8 in the first game. Emma Anderson also aced the Warriors 3 times in the first game, and Maddie Carroll got the only kill for Dunn in the first game.

However, without the hot start that led to a 4-0 lead in game one, the second game proved a bit more challenging for Dunn, and despite Maddie Carroll’s three kills and an ace, Dunn fell to Carp 22-25.

Both Carroll and de Werd took matters into their own hands in game four, with Carroll recording 4 dominant kills, and de Werd aced the Warriors 3 times with Emma Anderson finishing the game with an untouched kill right down the middle.

Once, Dunn gained the lead, it was vital to put away the match in the 4th game to prevent a frantic, “winner take all” 5th game wouldn’t let down. They struggled to put away the Warriors, blowing a 5 point lead to go down 22-21, but once again, de Werd’s serving proved vital to helping Dunn secure the victory in the 4th and lock up the match.

After the game, setter Sophia McGee was proud of her team and said, “Carp was a great team, but we communicated well, and we kept aggressive. We just played a great game.”

Earwigs Pinch the Lions

By Janaya Reid

Student Journalist

On Saturday, September 18th, Dunn Girls’ Volleyball traveled to Westmont College to play Providence High School. Initially the team felt intimidated, unaware of how well they played. However these fears were unwarranted. In the beginning of the game, the Earwigs established their authority with the help of Sophie McGee’s strong serves. The first game was a true battle of equals throughout, with Dunn getting the better of the Lions by 25-23.

In the second game, the Earwigs continued with powerful serves and Senior Katie Shea assisted with multiple kills. Several players had good runs of serves maintaining the lead over the Lions. Winning 25-11, the girls overcame their nerves and slowly gained confidence to ensure their victory. In the last game the team finally got their rhythm winning again 25-15 defeating the Lions in three consecutive games. “It felt really good” said coach Judyki “at first I wasn't sure what to expect when missing two key players Emma Anderson the setter, and Maddie Carrol a major voice on the court. Initially there were many unknowns but the teamed performed well and everybody stepped up." Coach Norris followed with “everyone got excited and stepped up, it was awesome!"

The Earwigs finished the game with eighteen aces.

Girls’ Volleyball Victorious over Orcutt

By Casey Crawford

Student Journalist

With a dominant performance against Orcutt, the girls’ volleyball team started its season off with a win on the road. Katie Shea led the charge against the Spartans with three aces in the first game alone and a winning kill in the second game. Cleo Cleary and Sophia McGee also turned in brilliant performances, with both holding ace streaks of at least four, and the Earwigs rolled past Orcutt in three games. Dunn’s point of strength was its serving, as the girls racked up ace after ace, and replicated their performance from last year, in which they took apart the Spartans in three games.



Earwig Football Suffers Loss in Season Opener

By Michael Tseng
Dunn School Journalist

This past Saturday, the Earwigs lost their first game at home in a non-league competition against Valley Christian Academy. The game ended in a 33-14 victory for VCA Lions.

On the first play of the game, Connor McMorrow, a senior captain, returned the opening kickoff 20 yards. However, the Dunn offensive line could not get McMorrow to break through VCA’s defensive “wall” in the first half. The VCA’s ground game was a big factor in the Earwig’s loss. Junior halfback, Dustin Taylor, from VCA rushed 121 yards and a touchdown in 23 carries. The Dunn defense is still young, which allowed VCA’s running backs many opportunities to score.

Throughout the game, the two captains McMorrow and Corbin Meyer played well on both defense and offense. Meyer, the first string quarterback rushed 30 yards to the one yard line setting up the team’s first touchdown of the 2010 season. McMorrow played well on defense, leading the team in tackles.

“Our young players gave a wonderful effort in this game,” said Coach Martin. Freshman Bryce Mckibben received a 10 yards toss from Meyer and rushed for another 40 yard run to score Dunn’s second touchdown, and another freshman Jake Eisaguirre played defense during the first quarter and made big tackles showing his potential in this 8-man football game. Jonny Hogan, a junior receiver caught some long bombs from Meyer and gave an outstanding performance in his first game.

Even though Dunn football had to suffer their first lose on their home field, this will remind them to work even harder on daily practices before facing their first league game in two weeks against Laguna Blanca. This game not only presented the team’s great spirit in staying in the game, but it also showed a good potential for Dunn players to improve in future games. “We definitely have lots of space to improve, but I am really happy to see these younger kids stand up for the team,” McMorrow said.

The team’s next match versus Maricopa on Saturday, September 25th, at home.



On left, Jonny Hogan leaps to make a completed pass from QB Corbin Meyer (right)

photos by Alex Glick-Howe