Talented field for Central California Classic

Golden Valley volleyball coach Matt Thissen wants to attract as many quality teams as he can to his tournament each year.

The big addition this year is perennial Central Section power Clovis West. The 21st annual Central California Classic will feature 32 teams and is scheduled to start at eight venues Friday at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday’s action will begin at 8:30 a..m., with the championship matches for the four divisions scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

“Once you get to Saturday afternoon, there should be some unbelievable volleyball,” Thissen said. “You’ve got Pitman, which reached the state championship game last year. Tehachapi was excellent last year. Clovis West is excellent every year. There are going to be some matches that you want to watch.”

The tournament starts with eight four-team pools. The top seeds in each pool are: Pitman, Clovis West, Central (Fresno), Tehachapi, Garces (Bakersfield), Turlock, Hilmar and El Diamante (Visalia).

The tournament will shift to four sites Saturday with Golden Valley, Merced College, El Capitan and Merced High hosting games.

Thissen has run the tournament for 20 years, so there aren’t many hiccups. Even when two teams dropped out this year.

“It’s easy dealing with the teams who have done it in the past,” Thissen said. “Trying to get new teams in is the challenge. The coach at Clovis West (Rhonda DeRuiter) is an old friend of mine. I’ve been trying to get her in the tournament for years, but her schedule didn’t allow it until this year.”

“The Tehachapi coach is another coach I knew and was basically bending her ear to come to our tournament.”

The tournament features many local teams, including Merced, El Capitan, Atwater, Golden Valley, Buhach Colony, Livingston, Chowchilla and Stone Ridge Christian.

Merced’s Foss cleared

Merced quarterback Jake Foss was medically cleared and practiced Tuesday. According to Bears coach Rob Scheidt, the junior is set to play this week against Edison (Fresno) after sitting out last week’s 24-7 loss to Monterey Trail.

Foss was sacked late in the Bears’ 43-21 loss to Clovis West on Aug. 28 and hit his head on the turf.

Honoring 9/11

There will be a short ceremony before the Merced-Edison football game Friday night at Veterans Stadium to honor all first responders and military members.

All first responders and military members will get free admission with ID or if in uniform. The Merced fire department will have a flag displayed atop a ladder truck.

Heat forces switch in game time

The start of the Livingston-Le Grand football game Friday night has been pushed back because of the predicted extreme heat this week, according to host Livingston athletic director Scott Winton.

The temperature is expected to reach 108 degrees.

The junior varsity game will start at 6:30 p.m. The varsity game will start at approximately 8:15 p.m.

“After discussing the potential playing conditions with our principal, Mandy Ballenger, and Le Grand High School AD Frank Ferreira, it just made sense,” Winton said. “Putting our kids in a safer environment is paramount. Getting home a little later on a Friday night is a small tradeoff.”

This story was originally published September 9, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Talented field for Central California Classic."