SAC UPDATE: Dons player receives top area defensive honors after big game

Gabriel Magana earned top defensive honors for his performance last week. (Photo courtesy Santa Ana College Sports Information).

Gabriel Magana of the Santa Ana College football team was named the Southern California Football Association Defensive Player of the Week after leading the Dons to a 49-14 win over Grossmont in week five.

The freshman defensive back from Valencia High School in Placentia came up with two interceptions and ran both back for touchdowns in Santa Ana’s 49-14 win over Grossmont. Magana also recorded two tackles in the win.

SAC will head into American Metro League play on Saturday, Oct. 15 against LA Southwest College. 

Cross country team competes in preview meet

Santa Ana College’s men’s cross country team was in action Friday competing in the SoCal Previews in Bakersfield against 24 other teams. 

The Dons placed 15th overall in just their second meet of the year. 

Sophomore standout Aldo Trujillo placed 33rd overall as he clocked in at 21:41.1. Next in for the Dons were Matthew Seminiano (94th – 23:15.3) and Jesus Espinoza (99th – 23:18.6). 

Eder Diaz (173rd – 24:53.2) was the fourth to come in for SAC followed by Zahid Sadat (179th – 25:10.4) who was not far behind.

Next up for Santa Ana will be the UC Riverside Highlander Classic on Saturday, Oct. 15. The men’s race will begin at 8 a.m. at the UCR Agricultural Operations Course.

Softball coach earns top honor from conference

Following its historic run, the Dons softball team collected various awards. The latest came when Coach Marissa Ross was named the 2022 Orange Empire Conference John Altobelli Female Coach of the Year. 

In her third season at the helm, Ross led the Dons to a 38-9, 20-4 overall record while capturing the program’s fifth OEC championship and advancing to state for the first time since 2001. 

Ross has taken the program to new heights since taking over in 2020, collecting 70 wins despite playing through a couple of shortened seasons. 

The head coach is also an alumna of Santa Ana College, graduating in 2014 before transferring to Drury University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sport Science as well as a master’s degree in Education, Integrated Learning. 

Women’s volleyball team wins two key matches

No. 19 Santa Ana women’s volleyball team got back into the win column on last week with a 3-0 sweep against Fullerton (7-9, 3-3) before coming up with another huge upset against No. 11 Orange Coast (11-3, 4-2) on Friday night. 

The Dons (11-2, 4-2) needed both wins to stay in contention for an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) title. Before Friday’s match, OCC held a one game lead on the Dons after defeating Cypress 3-1 in their last match. 

With the win, the Dons put themselves in a tie with OCC and Saddleback for second place in the OEC standings while they all trail Irvine Valley College by just one match.

—Courtesy Santa Ana College sports information