The local prep volleyball season may not even be a month old, but with the help of a DJ and jam-packed student sections from each school, Hilmar High’s gymnasium had a playoff atmosphere on Tuesday night when they welcomed the Bulldogs from nearby Turlock High for a non-conference volleyball match.
The rowdy crowd was treated to an early Game of the Year candidate — a back-and-forth, five-set affair between the two section playoff regulars that ended in favor of the Yellowjackets by a 15-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-15, 15-12 score.
“It was fun playing Turlock to five games. It was super exciting and the energy was amazing,” said Hilmar head coach Patti Harris, who enters her 15th season at the helm. “Turlock is such a solid team. They always have such great players.”
After dropping the first set 25-15, mainly due to miscommunication and over-compensated strikes, the ‘Jackets flipped the script with a 25-16 set win, five of those points coming courtesy of Alyssa Colston. In one sequence, the ball was batted back and forth 12 times (thanks to three digs from libero Teygan Horstmeier) that ended in a Hilmar score. The third set was a back-and-forth grapple that was edged out by Bulldogs due in part to five points from Madison Rice. But with the game on the line, the Yellowjackets took total control, blowing out the Bulldogs 25-15 behind seven kills from Finley Rosa in a fourth set that they never trailed in. The decisive fifth set saw three lead changes and four ties before the Yellowjackets pulled away with a pair of kills from Colston.
Rosa led the team with 15 kills, while Colston was close behind with 13 to go along with 6 aces. Stella Pires played the ultimate team game with 36 assists and 12 digs on the night.
“The adrenaline was so high. The intensity was just so crazy and so much fun to play in,” said Rosa. “Even when we were down heading into that fourth set, we just kept competing and wanted to show them who we are as a team.”
Many of the players on this year’s Hilmar roster are returners, and it’s that familiarity that Rosa credits for being able to pull out close wins like the one on Tuesday.
“We’re just so well connected and loyal to each… Our chemistry is just so good, so when we’re together, the sky’s the limit,” she said.
Lauren Parker did the bulk of the scoring for the Bulldogs with 16 kills in the losing effort, which snapped their two-game winning streak and dropped their record to 2-4 on the young season under first-year head coach Stacie Macias. Macias has taken over for Amber Lugo, who retired after 13 seasons.
Turlock won’t be in action again until next Tuesday when they welcome Merced to Bulldog Arena.
As for the Yellowjackets, who were recently ranked as the 10th best team in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps.com and are looking for their first league title since 2019, the win improved their record to 5-1. They will be back in action this weekend at the prestigious High Sierra Tournament in Reno. Their pool includes state title contenders Rocklin and Truckee.
“Tough, tough teams play there,” Harris said of the tournament. “Because you’re playing such good teams, they take advantage of any and all issues you may have and can show you the things you really need to work on, so it’ll be very important, but also very exciting.”
