Hilmar volleyball advances to CIF State Div. IV title game

Hilmar junior middle blocker Olivia Peterson said on Tuesday that after the Yellowjackets won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV title, the team wasn’t satisfied and wanted more.

“Everyone knew we wanted state,” Peterson said.

The Yellowjackets (35-12) are one step away from their goal after beating Shasta 25-15, 25-22, 25-11 in the CIF State Div. IV NorCal Regional Championship. Hilmar will face San Luis Obispo on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.

Hilmar looked like the top seed Tuesday night with pristine passing from junior setter Emma Martin (34 assists) and 15 kills from Peterson and 11 from junior outside hitter Kayley Souza.

“There were a lot times in the match where you could see how they were moving and dancing on the court,” Yellowjackets coach Patti Harris said. “They are very comfortable with each other and trust each other. They looked like a machine out there.”

Behind a packed house from Yellowjacket supporters, Hilmar led 4-0 and 20-12 before cruising to a first set win.

“We know when we have to get something done, we are just going to do it,” Peterson said.

The frontline of Peterson, Souza, and sophomore Genavieve Fontes created issues for the Wolves as they struggled to get clean hits over the net.

In the second set, the Wolves made adjustments at the net and led 16-15 before Hilmar responded and won the game behind a Souza kill down the left side.

Despite trailing for much of the set, the Yellowjackets remained upbeat on the court and stayed calm.

“You can’t get this far without having that unity on a team,” Harris said.

Hilmar led 14-6 in the third before going on a 6-0 run and easily winning the set and ending the match.

Harris attributed Tuesday’s success to a tough non-conference schedule against some of the top teams in the state.

“They are always put to the test for this reason so they can come here and do what they do,” Harris said.

Washington Union 3, Ripon 2 : The Indians (25-12) won the first two sets before falling 17-25, 22-25, 28-26, 25-23, 16-14 in the Div. V NorCal Title match.

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 10:16 PM.