Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) girls Athlete of the Week poll.
For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.
This week, we consider performances from Dec. 2-7.
Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.
Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.
Scroll to the bottom for the poll.
Winners are announced each Friday online and in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.
Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.
We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.
We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.
On to the nominees:
Mahlaysia Atkins, Moreau Catholic basketball: Atkins led the Mariners with 15 points as Moreau beat Mt. Diablo 49-45 for its first win of the season.
Anaya Bannarbie, Valley Christian basketball: The junior power forward was named most valuable player of the Glen Ventura tournament, averaging 13 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while adding 2.5 blocks per contest.
Angelica Chou, Menlo School soccer: Chou, a senior committed to Washington, scored six goals and added four assists as Menlo picked up wins over Wilcox and Los Gatos.
Natalie Dance, Mt. Diablo basketball: Dance, a senior guard, led all scorers with 18 points in Mt. Diablo’s narrow defeat at the hands of Moreau Catholic.
Zoey Hinkle, Del Mar girls basketball: Hinkle scored 24 points to lead Del Mar in a 53-23 win over Oak Grove.
Jhai Johnson, Oakland Tech basketball: Johnson scored 28 points and added eight rebounds in a win over North Community High School in Minnesota.
Morgan Phalen, Berean Christian soccer: Phalen, a senior, scored three goals and added three assists as Berean Christian picked up a 9-0 win over Swett and tied San Domenico 2-2.
Natalia Valerio, Willow Glen basketball: The Rams’ senior point guard scored 19 points to lead Willow Glen in a big win over Presentation. She is averaging 18.5 points per game so far this season.
Antonia Vlahos, Castilleja basketball: The senior point guard scored 25 points in leading Castilleja to a 42-37 win over American. She is averaging 23.4 points per game this season.
McKenna Woliczko, Archbishop Mitty basketball: Woliczko scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while dishing four assists as Mitty defeated La Jolla Country Day in the championship game of the Sweet 16 Tournament in San Diego.