The Liberty Charter High School girls soccer team recently held its awards ceremony following a season in which the Lady Lions advanced to the San Diego Section Division V-AA semifinal playoffs with a final 10-9-4 record.
“The girls had a great season as such a young team,” head coach Jori Hays said. “In league, they placed third, and the only two teams ahead of them were two to three divisions higher.” Liberty Charter finished 5-4-1 in Frontier-Summit League play behind O’Farrell Charter (9-0-1) and Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (6-1-2).
The third-seeded Lady Lions were among nine teams entered in the Division V-AA section playoffs. Liberty Charter defeated sixth-seeded San Diego Jewish Academy, 2-1, in overtime in the quarterfinals before engaging No. 2 River Valley in the semifinals. River Valley won 1-0.
“We had more possession and were in their half on offense for about 90 percent of the game,” Hays said. “River Valley had two shots on goal and we had
around 15. The team hasn’t made it this far in CIF in the past four years, which is exciting as we are only graduating four seniors and keeping the rest.”
River Valley (13-3-2) advanced to the division championship game, dropping a 3-1 decision to top-seeded Calvin Christian (16-4-1).
O’Farrell Charter received the No. 2 seed in the Division IV playoffs, advancing to the quarterfinals, while CVLCC received the No. 15 seed in the Division III playoffs, ending its season with a first-round loss.
Liberty Charter ended the season with three players earning all-league honors. Two freshmen made first team all-league: Abigail Funk and Summer Svendsen. One sophomore made second team all-league: Myra Sanders “All-league titles are given out during a meeting where all coaches in the league discuss which players stood out throughout the whole season,” Hays said.
Senior captain Marion Maliepaard received the team’s Heart of a Lion award, which is given to one senior who shows compassion, heart and leadership.
“It was overall a great season, and I am very hopeful for the seasons to come,” Jori said. Girls basketball Liberty Charter tipped off the 2025-26 season with a 15-0 run, though the season ended on a rather disappointing note with a 54-12 loss in the Division VAA section semifinals to cap an otherwise spectacular 19-2 finish.
“Last season, our team started out in the midst of a 19-game losing streak,” explained head coach Sewell Dunton in comparing the past two seasons. “Midseason, we finally got into the win column and ended the season winning seven of our last 15 games.
“This year, we started out as a young team with great chemistry. We won our first 15 games and were on our way to number 16 when our best player, junior guard Angie Carreon, tore her ACL in the first half of a close game we would go on to lose. “At that point, we had to make some adjustments and needed to win our next three games to win the league, which we did. We won our first playoff game but lost our semifinal matchup to the eventual CIF champion. We finished the season ranked third in Division 5-AA. We had our first winning season in four years and set a school record with an overall mark of 19-2.”
Liberty Charter had four players selected to the Frontier-Sierra All-League Team. Sisters Naomi Rodriguez (junior forward) and Laura Rodriguez (sophomore forward) were selected to the first team. Carreon was also selected first team and voted the Player of the Year.
The team’s lone senior, Kaiya McKay, was a second-team allleague selection.
Dunton was selected as the Coach of the Year, but she said she considers that to be a team award.
The Lady Lions held their awards banquet on March14. Freshman point guard Maddi Avant received the rookie of the year award while sophomore forward Makenna Jackson received the most improved award.
Naomi Rodriguez, who averaged 7.1 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game, earned recognition as the most inspirational award winner and team captain while Laura Rodriguez, who averaged 6.6 points per game; 6.6 rebounds per game, 4.1 steals per game and 1.5 blocks per game, was named the team’s defensive player of the year.
The MVP and team captain awards went to Carreon, who averaged 12.8 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game and 5.5 steals per game. Her presence was obviously missed in the semifinal game.
McKay, a guard, averaged 3.5 points per game; 3.6 rebounds per game and 3.8 steals per game as the team’s Lion Pride award-winner.
STATE WRESTLING
Granite Hills earned honors as the section’s second-best placing team at the recent California state boys wrestling championship tournament in Bakersfield. The Eagles placed 13th out of more than 200 teams in the mega event with two state medalists.