Hilmar volleyball team has high expectations again this season

The Hilmar High volleyball team has made it as far as a team can without winning a section title the last two years, losing to Sonora in the championship game both times.

The Yellowjackets hope they’re in for another long journey this season. Thursday’s stop was at Atwater High, where Hilmar swept the Falcons 25-12, 25-22, 25-18 to improve to 2-3 this season.

The biggest reason the Yellowjackets have high expectations again this season is 6-foot-2 senior Emily Baptista. The outside hitter showed why she’s headed to Pacific next year with 16 kills and three blocks against Atwater.

“Right now we’re focused on getting better,” Baptista said. “We want to worry about league first and then see where that takes us.”

Hilmar had Atwater (2-2) flustered early as the Yellowjackets jumped out to a 13-3 lead. Baptista had three kills and a block.

When Atwater cut the lead to 13-7, the Yellowjackets answered with a 5-0 run as Hannah Pearce, Riley Souza and Danielle Couchman all recorded kills and Erin Benning had a block.

“I think our offense is pretty strong,” Baptista said. “Where we run into trouble sometimes is with our service return and defense. We’re working on that in practice to be more consistent. Right now it’s a lot of highs and lows. It’s like being on a roller coaster.”

Atwater coach Toni Garcia knows the feeling.

The same Falcons team that struggled in the first game jumped out to leads of 13-5 and 17-9 in the second game. Atwater was communicating, passing and putting away its shots with Abby Knapp and Brittany Massa leading the way.

“We’re struggling to find it,” Garcia said. “We’re having a hard time finishing. We’re having a hard time being a good teammate. We’re struggling doing all the little things it takes in volleyball. We’re a pretty new team and we’re still trying to find a rotation.”

As if flipping a switch, the Yellowjackets stormed back in the second game with a 14-1 run to take a 23-18 lead. Sophomore middleblocker Miariah Ahid added four kills during the run as Hilmar opened up a two-game lead.

“I think Miariah is going to be a huge asset to the team this year,” Baptista said. “She’s a strong middle. Last year she was a freshman and she was a little green. She was still learning. She got in the gym, she played club and she’s really improved her game.”

The third game was competitive but Hilmar turned it on late, closing out the match with five consecutive points to complete the sweep.

“We have to find a way to be more competitive as a team and not let the points run away from us like that,” Garcia said. “It’s hard to come back from that, especially with a player like Emily on the other side.”

Knapp led Atwater with seven kills and two aces. Massa had 12 digs.

Hannah Pearce finished with 27 assists for the Yellowjackets and Avery Martin recorded 40 digs.

Both teams will play in the Central California Classic this weekend.

Stone Ridge Christian 3, Fresno Christian 0 in Fresno – Aurbriana Vander Woude paced the Knights with 11 kills and Ellie Vander Dussen picked up 31 digs in a 25-13, 25-15, 25-20 win. The Knights improved to 3-0.

Girls Golf

El Capitan 220, Ceres 234 in Merced – Salina Carbaugh shot a round of 49 to propel the Gauchos (4-0 Western Athletic Conference) to a win. Marcelina Mariano added a 55.

Buhach Colony 249, Merced 321 in Merced – Sabrina Thao shot a 43 and Tianna Lee finished with a 47 to help the Thunder improve to 2-0 in the Central California Conference.

Boys Soccer

Atwater 3 Pacheco 1 at Atwater – Maurilio Jeronimo, Christian Fuentes and Gerardo Delgadillo all scored goals to lift the Falcons (10-0-1) to a win over the Panthers. Rodolfo Rivera scored for Pacheco.

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Hilmar volleyball team has high expectations again this season."