First Paloma Valley High Spring Sports Honorees Recognized

From left: Darren Fabricante, Josh Arvizu, Kailee Smith, McKay George.

It's springtime, and a new set of teams are beginning competition at Paloma Valley High School. Today Menifee 24/7 honors the first Athletes of the Week for these sports.

Darren Fabricante is team captain of the boys volleyball team and is dedicated to helping the Wildcats get off to a fast start. He is so competitive, he suffered a gash in his chin when diving for a ball in a game against the school alumni.

"That cut later required eight stitches, but Darren insisted on finishing the game," said his coach, Katie Bradley. "He has exemplified positive leadership for our team so far."

"Both my parents were in volleyball," said Fabricante, a senior setter who helped his team win its league opener against San Jacinto on Tuesday. "My dad coached my mom. It became a family thing."

Senior pitcher Kailee Smith pitched 19 innings the first week of the season with a 1.11 ERA and 13 strikeouts. She is also batting .375 with a double and triple for the Wildcats, who are 6-3 this season.

"We're young, but I think we have a lot of potential," said Smith, who plays first base and right field when she isn't pitching. "Last year we finished second in league and made it to third round of CIF, and we want to improve on that."

Smith has received a full-ride scholarship to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa for next year.

McKay George is a senior leader for the boys tennis team, having worked his way up from a JV doubles player as a freshman to a standout singles player for the varsity.

"I did cross country my freshman year," he said. "I wasn't the best at cross country; actually I was one of the worst runners. I was determined coming into tennis that I would make something of myself. In the beginning, I was one of the worst doubles players. But we worked our way up to No. 1 on JV and finally I got to varsity."

"In his first two years, he continually worked on his skills and challenged varsity members to earn a varsity spot by the end of his sophomore year," said his coach, Alison King. "Not only is McKay leading his team in points, but he also leads his team by his character and the attitude in 'team first.' "

Senior Josh Arvizu is the starting center fielder for the baseball team, which plays Los Altos today. He moved here from Japan for his sophomore year and recently was accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy.

"We did a lot last year and we have really good pitching and defense, plus good hitting," said Arvizu. "We're expected to do a lot this year."

Arvizu plans to play baseball in prep school in Rhode Island next year before entering the Naval Academy.