Local Digest: Hilmar volleyball falls short of title; Several runners state-bound

Hilmar coach Patti Harris said Saturday that every volleyball team, “even the best ones,” have games where they mentally shut down due to stress and pressure.

Unfortunately for the Yellowjackets, that game came against San Luis Obispo in the CIF State Division IV Championship at Santiago College in Orange.

Hilmar, leading 2-1 in sets, needed one more to clinch the school’s first state championship. However, the Tigers rallied, and beat the Yellowackets 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-11, 15-9.

“ I told them to keep their chin up,” Harris said by phone following the match. “They just need to be proud of what they have done and yes, we lost, but look at the good and don’t let the failure cloud the success.”

The first three sets were back and forth between the north and south’s No. 1 seeds.

“We came out super strong,” Harris said. “We did a great job of controlling everything. They (SLO) couldn’t reset.”

But, in the fourth set, everything changed.

Harris said the team “kind of shut down” and the pressure of playing in a championship got to the team.

After the Tigers easily won the fourth set, Hilmar trailed 10-5 and 12-8 in the fifth before the Tigers closed out the match.

“Volleyball is such a mental game,” Harris said. “We have a lot of young players (only two seniors) and I think it was just a lot going on for the team.”

Sophomore Mikela Labno had 21 kills while junior setter Emma Martins had 41 assists for the Yellowjackets.

Despite coming up short, this Hilmar team made history and next year can be even better with most of the team returning.

“They are very accomplished,” said Harris of her team that won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V title and NorCal Division IV crown. “I am so proud of them and they made history over and over again.”

Big day for area cross country runners at section meet

It began with a question of whether the meet would happen due to the air quality from the fires in Northern California. However, the Sac-Joaquin Section Cross Country meet was held in Folsom on Saturday and several area runners and one team advanced to next week’s CIF State Meet in Fresno.

Depending on division, either the top two or top three teams advanced to the State Meet along with the top five individuals not on those teams who finished either in the top 12 or top 14 overall.

In Division 1: Modesto senior Fernando Guerrero finished sixth (16 minutes, 29 seconds) on the boys side while Pitman senior Mavleen Mann finished second (19:12) to qualify. So did Gregori senior Briseida Garcia-Meza (19:22, 5th) and sophomore Madison Kackley (19:28, 8th).

In Division 2: Clara Harman (19:52.6) qualified for Atwater.

In Division 3: Oakdale freshman Haleigh Humble finished third (19:57) to qualify. Kayden Legan (20:23.1) also qualified for the Mustangs. The Merced boys also qualified along with Pacheco’s Daniel Herrera (16:58.8). Merced’s Quinn Hagerman (19:06.0) finished second to reach Fresno.

In Division 4: Ripon sophomore Bennie Dimas finished 10th (17:16) on the boys side while Hughson’s girls’ team finished second to advance. Huskies senior Emily Fife led the way with a second-place finish in 19:47. Also qualifying were the Calaveras boys, who finished third, and Sonora’s Clayton Franco (16:51.3) and Adin Dibble (16:58.3).

In Division 5: The Waterford boys finished second to qualify. Ripon Christian sophomore Hakyeom Park finished fifth (18:28) on the boys side while Central Catholic freshman Ashley Sams finished fifth (21:46) on the girls side to qualify..

Stanislaus County Volleyball All-Star Game scheduled for Dec. 1

Pitman High will host the Stanislaus County All-Star Game on Dec. 1 at noon. There are two five-set matches scheduled: North Small School vs. South Small Schools and Large North Schools vs Large South Schools.

Seniors from Central Catholic, Gregori, Modesto, Modesto Christian, Oakdale, Pitman, and Turlock among others are all expected to participate in the event.

Tickets are $7 for general admission and $5 for seniors and students.

This story was originally published November 17, 2018 at 5:55 PM.