Local Digest: Central Catholic, Hilmar volleyball advance; Davis QB fifth in nation
Before the start of the fifth set in Tuesday’s CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Div. III semifinal volleyball game between Central Catholic and Nevada Union, the lights at the Mark Gallo Health & Fitness Center faded in and out.
Maybe it was a sign.
Once the lights came back on, so did the No. 1 Raiders’ offense as they won the set 15-8 to advance to the title game, where they will face No. 2 Vanden at 6 p.m. at Ripon High School.
“We needed to play our game,” Raiders coach Michelle Springmeyer said. “We were struggling all night to get our footing. We were batting ourselves.”
The match almost didn’t even get to a fifth set as Central Catholic saw its 17-8 lead vanish in the must-win fourth set.
The set was tied at 20 before Central Catholic pulled away to win 25-22 to send the match to a final set.
“We knew we needed more energy on the court,” Springmeyer said.
The energy was provided by freshman outside hitter Abby Castillon. The team leader in kills provided the offensive power, played great defense and was the vocal leader on the court. She had eight kills in the first set, which the Miners won 25-22.
“We definitely rely on her,” Springmeyer said. “She is a great athlete. She does a really good job of picking people up and helping her teammates out.”
Castillon had five more kills in the second set as the Raiders tied the match with a 25-18 victory.
In what Springmeyer said was “one of the worst sets of the season,” Nevada Union won the third 25-10 behind juniors Faith Menary and Emerson Dunbar, who each had three kills and a couple of blocks.
“We were really tested tonight,” Springmeyer said. “They really worked us on the net and it was a good thing to see for (future) competition.”
The final set was tied at 6 before the Raiders went on a 9-2 run to end the match. Castillion finished with 26 kills while sophomore outside hitter Tessa Gallo had 11 kills and junior setter McKenzie Lettice had 46 assists.
Central Catholic is one step away from checking off one of the objectives they made before the season.
“You set goals for yourself but I don’t think you expect them to always happen or go the way you think they are going to go,” Springmeyer said.
Hilmar 3, Ripon 0- The Yellowjackets (31-12) will go for a second straight Div. IV championship after sweeping the Indians 25-8, 25-16, 25-23 on Tuesday. Hilmar will face No. 2 Colfax at 3 p.m. at Ripon High. Colfax beat Escalon in four sets to advance to title game.
Forest Lake Christian 3, Big Valley Christian 2 - The Lions (18-9) won the first two sets before falling in five sets in the Div. VI semifinals.
Davis’ Rodriguez finishes season fifth in nation in passing yards
With Davis High out of the playoffs, Spartans quarterback Xavier Rodriguez ended the season fifth in the nation and second in the state with 3,518 passing yards.
He led the state and section with 226 completions and had 37 touchdowns to just five interceptions.
Rodriguez’s teammate, junior wide receiver Gregory Smith, had 1,084 receiving yards (third in section) and 17 touchdowns (tied for first with Orestimba’s Tyler Vargas and Lincoln’s Harry Rounds).
MJC women’s golf clinches Big 8 Conference Title
The Pirates women’s golf team clinched the Big 8 Conference title after finishing atop the standings at the Big 8 Conference tourney at Spring Creek Country Club in Ripon on Tuesday.
The Pirates advance to the NorCal Championships in Davis on Sunday and Monday.
Shawn Jansen of the Merced Sun-Star contributed to this report
This story was originally published October 31, 2018 at 6:39 AM.