Pitman repeats as Sac-Joaquin Section D-I volleyball champion

Entering the 2014 volleyball season, Pitman High School was the favorite to win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship.

The Pride lived up to those lofty expectations and more, advancing to the state final.

Entering the 2015 season, Pitman was not expected to repeat after losing eight seniors, including two to Division I college programs.

Apparently, the Pride wasn’t in on those discussions.

Fourth-seeded Pitman refused to give up its section crown Saturday night at Tokay High School, defeating Pleasant Grove 19-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-23 in a rematch of last year’s title match.

“We believed in ourselves,” said junior Yisel Perez, who spiked the championship clincher off an assist from setter Kiyanna Torres. “We knew we had to work hard to get here, but we knew we could do it.”

But what’s better: Living up to expectations or defying the odds?

“Honestly, it feels better winning it the second time,” senior libero Lauren Solis said. “After losing to Turlock, we were even more motivated to get here. It fired us up.”

The loss to the crosstown rival Bulldogs in the Central California Conference finale Nov. 2 snapped the Pride’s 58-match league winning streak and created a co-championship in the CCC. That required a coin flip to see which team would get the CCC’s No. 1 playoff spot. Turlock won the toss and was seeded second in the section tournament. Pitman was seeded fourth.

That didn’t sit well with the champs.

“At first, we were not happy” Torres said. “We realized it’s just a number, but it motivated us to play a little harder.”

Pitman (29-6) and Pleasant Grove (36-5) came out playing hard, with neither able to get more than a two-point lead in in the first set until the Eagles forged ahead 22-19.

Trailing 21-19, Pitman dug a ball that caromed high into the rafters. The flight of the ball was altered and the Pride couldn’t make a play, giving Pleasant Grove the point. The same thing happened moments earlier when Pitman trailed 19-18. Had the Pride won both points, it would have changed the complexion of the first set.

But it hardly mattered. Pitman stormed to an 8-0 lead in the second set and never looked back.

“These girls deserve it,” Pitman coach Kristen Pontes-Christian said of her team. “They played all out, from beginning to end.”

The beginning of the end for Pleasant Grove was the Pride’s strategy against 6-foot-5 outside hitter Alexis Light. The Pride made sure to serve her tough, cheated blockers toward her side and made her adjust her attack points. Basically, Pitman just wanted to get in the big junior’s head.

“She made a few mental mistakes that she normally wouldn’t make,” Pontes-Christian said.

And Pitman made few mistakes down the stretch – perhaps a product of its big-game experience from last year.

“It’s really important to have a feel for what it’s going to be like and what you need to do in pressure situations,” sophomore outside hitter Whitney Barnes said.

So this year’s Pride, which will lose just four seniors, is getting more big-game experience to lean upon next season. First, though, Pitman hosts Carlmont of Belmont in a Northern California playoff opener Tuesday.

“We’re all about program at Pitman,” said Pontes-Christian, who was 29-46 in her first three seasons after taking over the program in 2007 but has gone 178-33-2 in six seasons since. “We’ve got a team of amazing players; everyone did their part. We’re not a team with just one or two individuals.”

Her team buys into that concept.

“We’re great individually,” senior Kaylene Ureno said, “but as a team, we can accomplish so much more.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 10:10 AM with the headline "Pitman repeats as Sac-Joaquin Section D-I volleyball champion."