Bee’s Best: Fresno Christian’s big soccer season capped by Player of Year and Coaches
Abigail Herren is a soft spoken midfielder for the Fresno Christian girls soccer team.
But don’t let that fool you. Her play on the pitch speaks volumes, and it showed all season for the Eagles.
“We had a phenomenal season this year, obviously with Abby leading the way,” Fresno Christian coach Matthew Markarian said.
Herren finished with a team-leading 32 goals and added 22 goals for a team-high 36 points.
In the California Interscholastic Federation Northern California regional semifinal, she scored the lone goal in the Eagles’ victory over Liberty-Ranch.
“I feel like that’s when we played the best,” Herren said. “We just were so together and our one goal was really pretty, like the way we connected there. Pure grit to win that.”
With Herren’s leadership, the Eagles finished the season 19-3 and 9-0 in the Northwest Sequoia League.
Herren is The Fresno Bee’s Player of the Year.
“Just honored,” Herren said. “Just really honored.”
Herren had a goal in the Eagles’ 3-2 heartbreaking loss to Sacred Heart in the NorCal regional championship.
Still, Herren said it was the “good chemistry” among the team that made the season enjoyable.
“We always gave it our all,” she said. “Honestly, (we) got a lot of chances to score.”
Next up for Herren is playing at Valley Children’s Stadium at Fresno State.
“I’m going to get going in the fall,” Herren said. “Really exciting.”
Co-Coaches of the Year: Garet Markarian and Matthew Markarian, Fresno Christian
It was a rewarding year for the Markarian brothers.
Neither will take the full credit. They like to share the success because that is who they are.
Never selfish.
Instead, they enjoy putting players in the best position to succeed on and off the pitch.
“We didn’t know what to expect with this team,” Matthew Markarian said. “We were young; graduated a lot of really good players last year. But from the beginning, this team came together and overcame adversity and wound up winning a section championship. Literally minutes away from a (regional) championship. It was a fantastic year.”
The one takeaway for Matthew Markarian was a “sense of togetherness this team had.”
“There are only 100 girls in our school,” he said. “We don’t recruit. We don’t bring in anybody. We’re dependent on girls playing during the offseason and being together during the offseason. This group was clearly friends.”
Said Garret Markarian: “I feel like with high school it’s about making girls come together because you’re basically getting other people’s club players and your job is just to make hem mingle and come together and play as a team and play for each other, which can be hard sometimes when they’re all playing at different places.
“These girls bought in and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to play for each other.’ They didn’t bat an eye at it. They come together.”
Large School Player of the Year: Rebhia Mansour, Sr., Clovis North
Mansour is the reason why the Broncos had a successful season. Especially winning the Tri-River Athletic Conference title.
She finished with 16 goals and 17 assists and was named the TRAC’s Player of the Year.
Medium School Player of the Year: Baylee Melgoza, Jr., Kerman
Melgoza was the key to a big season for the Lions. Though they came up short for a section title, Melgoza helped her team win matches with just 13 goals.
She did everything she could to keep her team in games while dishing out six assists.
She was named the Tri-County Conference - Kings Division Offensive Player of the Year.
Small School Player of the Year: Yenifer Morales, Jr., Mendota
Morales had a big season, finishing with 27 goals.
She helped the Aztecs to a West Sierra League title with a 9-0-1 record. Flores had five assists.
She was named the West Sierra League Offensive Player of the Year.
Bee All-Stars
Claire Anker, Jr., Central Valley Christian
Trinity Bannister, Fr., Fresno Christian
Kaitlyn Conner, Jr., Buchanan
Danica Curry, Sr., Clovis West
Taylor Downing, Soph., Clovis West
Andi Escalante, Sr., Mendota
Ava Etulain, Sr., Sierra Pacific
Jayah Fonseca, Sr., Clovis West
Sierra Fernandez, Soph., Golden West
Josaleen Garay, Jr., Granite Hills
Kim Garcia, Jr., Reedley
Jayme Gomez, Sr., Redwood
Gianna Gonzalez, Soph., Torres
Alexis Guerra, Jr., Corcoran
Dani Robles Huerta, Buchanan
Chloe Johnson, Sr., Fresno Christian
Evie Juarez, Sr., Clovis
Royce Kilby, Jr., Sanger
Kensyn Laird, Fr., Hanford
Jaya Laird, Sr., Hanford
McKarah Lopez, Soph., Clovis East
Kaylene Magana, Sr., Lindsay
Ava Martinez, Jr., Sanger
Yenifer Morales, Jr., Mendota
Alexandra Moreno, Jr., Firebaugh
Reagan Neese, Jr., Central Valley Christian
Jocelyn Ortiz, Sr., Farmersville
Yurriana Ortiz, Sr., Torres
Hannah Peters, Sr., Clovis North
Alexis Rico, Sr., Redwood
Nevaeh Ritchie, Sr., Hanford West
Jayden Rios, Sr., Kingsburg
Jackie Saechao, Sr., El Diamante
Julia Salem, Sr., Bullard
Iysha Sandoval, Fr., Lindsay
Bella Soyinthisane, Sr., Clovis East
Macyn Stewart, Jr., Edison
Aliyah Talamantez, Jr., Farmersville
Skylar Terra, Sr., Clovis North
Haylee Vega, Sr., Coalinga
Emma Velasquez, Soph., Torres
Claire Welch, Jr., Hanford
Kennedy Wyatt, Sr., Fresno Christian
This story was originally published May 10, 2025 at 11:00 AM.
