Paloma Valley High School Athletes of the Week: Sept. 16

From left: Viola Plasencia, Kathryn Whitford, Joseph Dunn, Erin Hamand.

Each week of the school year, Menifee 24/7 honors top student-athletes at Paloma Valley High School. The coach of each varsity sport is allowed to select one athlete based on the previous week's performances or on potential shown by the athlete. Here are this week's Paloma Valley High School Athletes of the Week:

Erin Hamand is one of the stars of the girls volleyball team. She led the team in kills and blocks this at the recent Desert Classic, where she was an All-Tournament selection. She has committed to Colorado School of Mines, one of the top engineering schools in the country.

Viola Plasencia and Kathryn Whitford make up the No. 1 doubles team for the girls tennis team. They won eight of their nine matches last week.

"They are excellent leaders on the tennis team and the younger girls look up to them," said their coach, David McCoy. "They are excellent students and teachers have only good things to say about them."

Defensive lineman Joseph Dunn "was all over the field" in the football team's loss to a tough ML King team last weekend, said coach Bert Esposito. Dunn has 14 tackles and 12 assists in three games.

These athletes will be eligible for selection as Paloma Valley High School's Athletes of the Month, which will be announced the first week of October.

Paloma Valley Athletes of the Week: Williams, Hamand, Colon

Paloma High School Athletes of the Week (from left): Stephanie Williams, Erin Hamand, Ruben Colon.

In recognition of their recent success in athletics and their outstanding representation of their school, Stephanie Williams, Erin Hamand and Ruben Colon have been named Menifee 24/7 Athletes of the Week for Paloma Valley High School.

The sport of cross country has a solid legacy at Paloma Valley, and Stephanie Williams is helping to carry on the winning tradition. In the recent Woodbridge Invitational, she set a personal best for a three-mile course with a time of 19:50.

Williams finished 15th overall in a field featuring top runners from many Southland high schools. And she did it while nursing a pulled leg muscle.

"I had a lot of pain before the race, but I just pushed through it," she said. "That was my best race mentally, maybe because I had to make up for the injury. Running is about 80 percent mental."

Williams doesn't even get to work out with all her teammates during the week. Because she is attending church seminary during early morning workouts, she and a couple teammates train together after school.

"Even if no one is watching over us, we know we can't slack off," Williams said. "You have to have solid workouts."

At 6-foot-2, Erin Hamand enjoys a height advantage that makes her a force from her middle blocker position on the Wildcats' girls volleyball team. A highly recruited junior, Hamand scored 10 points in one game against Tahquitz with three service aces and seven kills.

"I was an outside hitter, but they put me back in the middle," said Hamand. "The block is important because it sets the tone for the back row defense. On offense, I can be ready to handle the set."

Hamand does a good job on both offense and defense at the net and has really improved in her role on the team.

"I used to touch the net all the time," she said with a smile. "One game when I first started, I think I had 28 nets. I've gotten a lot better about that."

Hamand plans to visit Oregon State soon and also is being recruited by Temple, Tennessee and Tennessee Tech.

Junior football player Ruben Colon had a big game against Moreno Valley on Sept. 20, making several open-field tackles and breaking up a fourth-down pass play by the opposition to help preserve the Wildcats' overtime victory. He also played solid defense and offense last week in Paloma Valley's 49-34 win over Temecula Valley.

"Ruben is an outstanding person and student as well and is one of the most coachable athletes a coach could have," said coach Bert Esposito.

Colon, a cornerback, said he's excited to see his work and that of his teammates pay off for the Wildcats, who are 5-0 this season.

"A lot of it is mental discipline," he said. "I have to know if the ball might come my direction and do what I'm supposed to do. That play in overtime was exciting, but not just for me. It's not a personal thing; it's a team thing."