Four Stanislaus District volleyball teams headed to NorCal Regional tourney

Four Stanislaus District volleyball teams will play in the CIF Northern California Regional Championships, which begin Tuesday.

Not surprisingly, defending NorCal champions Pitman and Sonora – the Wildcats won the state championship in 2014 – will host first-round matchups after repeating as Sac-Joaquin Section champs. What is slightly surprising is that Merced’s Stone Ridge Christian, the runner-up in Division VI, will host a match. Only Hilmar, second place in D-IV the past three years, will be on the road.

All matches start at 7 p.m.

Pitman, which defeated Pleasant Grove on Saturday in the D-I final, is seeded second and will take on No. 7 Carlmont-Belmont.

Sonora, which captured its third consecutive D-IV crown, drew the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Sutter at Bud Castle Gymnasium. Hilmar is the No. 5 seed and will travel to face No. 4 Menlo-Atherton.

The Yellowjackets hope to ease the sting of another loss in the section final with a strong NorCal run.

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Hilmar coach Patti Harris said. “That was a heartbreaking loss; we’re a much better team than we showed. But there’s nothing we can do about that game anymore.”

Stone Ridge Christian, which fell in the D-VI final for the third consecutive season, is the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 Anderson Valley-Boonville.

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Four Stanislaus District volleyball teams headed to NorCal Regional tourney."