College notebook: Stan State volleyball’s historic season continues in NCAA tournament
The Stanislaus State women’s volleyball team this week makes the six-hour drive to Kellogg Arena at Cal Poly Pomona for a historic experience.
For the first time in the program’s history, the Warriors will participate in the NCAA Division II Tournament. They reached the tournament via automatic bid after winning their first-ever California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. Stan State is the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Division II Tournament’s West Region Quarterfinals. They will face the region’s No. 3 team, Chaminade University, on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 4:30 p.m. The match will be streamed at Flocollege.com.
The Warriors earned a top-25 national ranking at the end of November for the first time in program history, coming in at No. 24 on the 2024 American Volleyball Coaches Association/Taraflex Division II Women’s Volleyball Poll. As a team, the Warriors are top 25 nationally in team blocks and blocks per set.
“Congratulations to our Stantastic women’s volleyball team on their historic first CCAA Championship title,” President Britt Rios-Ellis said in a statement to the team. “This triumph is a shining example of what we can accomplish together and will inspire future Warrior generations. ¡Felicitaciones, campeonas! Congratulations, champions! You’ve made us all so proud, and I look forward to joining Stan State alumni and fans to cheer you on Dec. 5 in Pomona.”
It has been a historic season for the Warriors. In late November, they beat Cal State Los Angeles 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-17) to claim the CCAA tournament championship. It was also the program’s first time in the tournament championship. They won the championship by winning three matches in three days, Nov. 21-23.
Five members were named to the CCAA Championships All-Tournament team. Ellison Weaver earned tournament MVP honors and earned all-tournament honors with Haley Burdo, Alex Byrd, Gabby Rawson and Isabella Saucedo.
“For little ol’ Stan State to pull it out in the end is more than we could have dreamed of,” Warriors head coach Lauren Flowers said in the post-match press conference.
Six Warriors earned All-CCAA honors at the end of the regular season, highlighted by Gabby Rawson, who received conference Libero of the Year award as well as First Team All-CCAA honors. Rawson is the first conference Libero of the Year in Stan State history. Malia Tanksley was named conference Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Warrior to win the award. Alex Byrd was named to the All-CCAA Second Team. Haley Burdo, Makenna Carrillo, Autumn Kirby, and Malia Tanksley all were honorable mentions.
Pitman high grad earns All-Conference honors
Former Pitman High standout Mya Sanchez earned All-West Coast Conference honors for her work on the field and in the classroom after her first season as the full-time starter in goal for Oregon State University. Sanchez was an All-WCC Honorable Mention selection and was named All-WCC Academic Honorable Mention. The junior started all 18 games and was the only member of the team to play every minute during the season. She led the conference in saves with 92, averaging 5.11 per game and stopping 78.0% of shots faced and raised that to 83.3% during conference play. She recorded clean sheets at Idaho State, Saint Mary’s and San Francisco. She had a career-high nine saves in a big 2-1 win over nationally ranked Santa Clara.
MJC football playing in NorCal championship
The MJC football team earned a key overtime victory over Fresno City College at home Saturday to advance in the Northern California semifinals. The Pirates (9-2) won 31-28 in double overtime on a game-winning 36-yard field goal from Manuel Duran. Quarterback Luke Weaver completed 14 of 22 passes for 361 yards and three touchdowns. Trace Hernandez (five catches, 150 yards), Joey Stout (five catches, 101 yards) and Malachi Butler (two catches, 100 yards) each recorded 100 or more receiving yards and had one receiving touchdown.
The Pirates travel to No. 1-seed College of San Mateo on Saturday for yet another matchup with the Bulldogs. The Pirates beat San Mateo earlier this season at home, 23-20. The winner of Saturday’s matchup will play the Southern California champion in the state championship.
Former Bee POY starring at San Diego State
Former Modesto Christian guard and current San Diego State sophomore BJ Davis is making his impact felt with the Aztecs, producing career highs in minutes played (166), points per game (13.8), rebounds (four), total assists and total steals and has career-high shooting splits of 56/50/83. He has played in all six games and has a career-high six starts.
Davis, the 2023 Modesto Bee Player of the Year, had the best game of his career in an upset win over then-No. 21 Creighton, posting 18 points and nine rebounds. He also most recently helped the Aztecs beat then-No. 6 Houston in overtime, posting five points and tying his career-high five steals.
Davis and the Aztecs travel to Fresno State Wednesday at 7:30. The game will be available on FS1.
MJC hoops tournament this week
The 85th annual Modesto Junior College Basketball Tournament tips off this week as MJC, El Camino College, Merced College and Sacramento City College. The opening games are Dec. 6; Merced plays Sacramento City at 5:30 and El Camino plays host MJC at 7:30 p.m. The Pirates are ranked No. 9 in California.
General admission tickets are $6, and students, seniors and veterans are $3. MJC students and children under 10 get in free.
Former Sac-Joaquin Section hoops stars playing in San Jose showcase
A lot of former high school basketball talent from the Sac-Joaquin Section will be in action at the end of December in San Jose for the San Jose Tip-off, a one-day event featuring two games at the SAP Center. Former Modesto Bee Boys Basketball Players of the Year Jamari Phillips (Oregon) and BJ Davis (San Diego State) attended Modesto Christian and will be in attendance with their teams. Davis’ teammate at San Diego State, Miles Byrd, is a graduate of Lincoln of Stockton. Oziyah Sellers, who also spent time as a Crusader, will be in attendance with Stanford. Jesuit of Carmichael graduate Andrej Stojakovic will be in attendance with Cal Berkeley.
Phillips and Sellers will face off first as Oregon faces Stanford at 5 p.m. Davis and Stojakovic’s teams, San Diego State and Cal, play the second game, which is slated to start at 7:30 p.m.
Davis and Stojakovic also matched up at their respective high schools in the 2023 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship. Davis had 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals in the Crusaders’ 79-53 win. Stojakovic finished with 17 points and four rebounds.
