History continues for Beyer boys volleyball. Now they await their next opponent
Beyer boys volleyball coach Carl Wheeler describes his team as resilient.
So it only makes sense that the team that started the 2026 campaign with back-to-back five-set wins and has not dropped a deciding set all season took home the first blue Sac-Joaquin Section championship banner for any Modesto public school.
It happened in a five-set thriller Saturday, May 9.
The Patriots, who were the top-ranked team in the Division III bracket with just two league losses and a program-high 28-6 record entering the match, beat No. 2-seed Ripon Christian , 18-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 15-10.
The Patriots advance to the CIF Northern California Regional Playoffs. They will learn their division, seed and opponent on Sunday, May 17.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Wheeler said in a postgame phone interview. “It all just kind of happened so fast. The entire match was a battle and there were moments where we made it difficult for ourselves, but at the end, it was just a sigh of relief. We finally proved what we set out to show everybody: We were more than capable of winning. The feeling of winning, there’s a sense of confidence because of how we accomplished it.”
The Knights took the first set and the Patriots responded with a second set win. It looked like Beyer would take a commanding 2-1 lead in the third. It took an early 12-5 start, but Ripon Christian rallied back, taking an 18-16 lead late and powering to a victory.
Beyer went on a run of its own in the fourth set to return the favor.
Trailing 12-5 early, they slowly climbed back into the frame. Trailing 19-15 late in the frame, Beyer used a 6-0 run to take a two-point advantage late. The Patriots held on, taking that set and using that momentum in the decisive fifth frame.
“When we were down seven points, I think that it’s just a promise that we made to each other that until the match is over, we’re not gonna stop competing,” Wheeler said.
The Patriots were down multiple times in the match but found ways to stay alive and go on scoring runs.
“We were staring down a section championship loss and we found a way to rally together,” Wheeler said. “It’s the resiliency that they continue to show and the support they’ve had for each other. We’re never going to panic, we’re just going to tell ourselves how to get out of sticky situations.”
With their opponent still to be determined, the Patriots’ only option is to focus on themselves. Teams use the time between the section and state playoffs to make small tweaks to plays, nurse nagging injuries and reset for what they hope is another deep playoff run.
One thing that will not change for the Patriots is their identity.
Wheeler said the team found it during Western Athletic Conference play and never looked back. Since March 29, Beyer has lost just one match. During that 12-match span the Patriots are 11-1 with nine sweeps, one four-set playoff match and the five-set section title.
The CIF seeds teams based on competitive equity and the Patriots could see opponents ranging from Fresno to north of Redding. The first three rounds of the state tournament are at home sites. The NorCal first round is Tuesday May 19, Regional Semifinals are May 21 and regional finals are Saturday, May 23.
“Definitely uncharted territory for them,” Wheeler said. “It’s really just about preparation. We’re going to prepare as well as we can for whoever our opponent will be, and no matter what, we’re gonna compete until the end of the match.
“We’re a dangerous team because these guys prepare well, they have very high IQs and they adjust really well during matches. As long as they keep the promise to compete until the match is over, I think we have a strong chance at going to the state championship.”
