Sage Creek junior Maddie Redmond earned San Diego Union-Tribune Athlete of the Week honors after powering the Bobcats to the West Coast Challenge tournament championship and an 8-1 start to the season.

Redmond piled up 55 kills, 17 blocks and five aces across the two-day tournament on Friday, Aug. 21, and Saturday, Aug. 22, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The performance helped Sage Creek avenge its only loss of the young season with a 2-0 victory over Steele Canyon in the championship match.

Tournament recap

The Bobcats entered the West Coast Challenge at 4-0 and swept their Day 1 bracket 3-0, including a 2-1 win over West Hills of Santee. The Sage Creek Volleyball Parents page captured the mood after Friday's play:

"Took 1st in our Bracket going 3-0! Headed into Gold for Day 2 of the West Coast Challenge!"

Day 2 brought a setback. Steele Canyon of Spring Valley beat Sage Creek 2-0 during pool play, handing the Bobcats their first loss and dropping them to 5-1. Sage Creek answered with a 2-0 rout of Brawley (25-13, 25-10) before meeting Steele Canyon again in the final.

The rematch went differently. Redmond and the Bobcats won 25-22, 25-18 to claim the title.

Season so far

As we reported Aug. 23, Sage Creek opened its season with non-league wins over Fallbrook on Tuesday, Aug. 11, and Maranatha Christian on Tuesday, Aug. 18, before rolling through the West Coast Challenge. The lone blemish, the pool-play loss to Steele Canyon, was erased by the end of the same afternoon.

What's next

Sage Creek returns to its home gym at 3900 Cannon Road for a pair of non-league matches: El Camino of Oceanside visits Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m., followed by Mira Mesa on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 6:15 p.m.