Local Digest: Hilmar, Ripon volleyball teams reach NorCal finals; Stan St. men cruise

The Hilmar and Ripon high school volleyball teams moved to within two victories of a state title.

Mikela Labno had 19 kills as the Yellowjackets defeated University Prep of Redding 25-14, 21-25, 29-27, 25-14 in the CIF State Division IV Northern California semifinals on Saturday night.

No. 1-seeded Hilmar (34-12) will host Shasta (18-15) of Redding in the NorCal title game on Tuesday. Shasta, the No. 2 seed, beat Pierce of Arbuckle 24-26, 25-23, 25-12, 23-25, 15-4 on Saturday.

Besides a stout defense, also guiding Hilmar on Saturday were Emma Martin (44 assists), Julia Gonsalves (30 digs) and Michaela Petersen and Olivia Peterson, who each had two aces.

Hilmar, which is 12-0 at home this season, and Shasta have three commont opponents — University Prep, Los Banos and Yerington. The Yellowjackets hold a combined 3-2 record in their meetings with the three while Shasta is 2-1.

Meanwhile, Ripon pulled off a big rally on the road, coming back to beat Madera South 25-19, 15-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-12 on Saturday to upset the No. 1-seeded Stallions in a Division V semifinal.

On Tuesday, the fourth-seeded Indians (25-11) will be down south again, traveling to Fresno to take on No. 3-seed Washington Union.

The Panthers (35-8) advanced with a 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-15 win over Vacaville Christian.

Ripon and Washington Union have one common opponent — Escalon. Ripon is 2-0 against the Cougars while Washington is 1-0 against Escalon.

The state title matches, pitting the Northern and Southern California champions, will be Friday and Saturday at Santiago Canyon College in Orange. Specific times will be announced later this week.

STANISLAUS STATE BASKETBALL: Vasilije Saraba had 18 points and eight rebounds and Riverbank High graduate Rolaun Dunham added 13 points to lead the Warriors (2-0) to a 75-61 victory over Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday night.

Stanislaus State, which plays at the University of the Pacific on Tuesday at 7 p.m., outscored Notre Dame 41-26 in the second half. Warrior Ty Davis chipped in with 12 points.

This story was originally published November 11, 2018 at 9:32 AM.