Buhach Colony opens CCC volleyball play with win over Merced

First-year Buhach Colony High School volleyball coach Kuuipolani Braceros likes to run a drill in practice she learned from her coach at Merced College, Jessica Casey.

It’s a three-on-six drill in which the trio must earn a sideout against the six players on a serve, free ball, down ball and bounced ball to get off the court.

It’s not an easy drill, and the three players have to work together to overcome their disadvantage.

Braceros feels that drill helps teach her players how to dig deep when they’re tired during crucial moments in a match. The Thunder might be seeing that work pay off because anytime Merced managed to cut into Buhach Colony’s leads Wednesday night, the Thunder answered as it swept the Bears 25-18, 25-15, 25-22 in a Central California Conference opener.

“I like the drill,” Braceros said. “I think they like the drill. I think they understand why we do it. It brings the competitiveness out of them.

“The three players have to make up for the three less players by playing together. It’s a good conditioning drill. It also helps prepare them for long rallies and to fight through the tough points. It teaches them not to give up.”

The Thunder (4-1) received big contributions up front from Sarah Clarot and Cameron Gray and setter Mallory Pazin. Jessica Pinasco, Emma Seifert, Jenny Zaragoza and Karissa Jacobsen contributed offensively.

It was a great start for a program that was winless in the CCC last season.

“It feels amazing to come out as strong as we did,” Clarot said. “It’s been a process. We worked our butt off all summer, and we expected to come out strong. I felt we all worked together well and we kept the intensity up, which makes us 10 times better.”

Meanwhile, Merced (3-5) struggled to get anything going most of the night.

“Simply put, we did not play Bear volleyball,” coach Marcia-Marie Rosson said. “We need cleaner passing, smarter hitting and more intensity. We had sparks of it tonight instead of consistent intensity.”

The Bears were always working from behind. Buhach Colony led 10-6 and 14-8 in the first game. The Bears cut the deficit to 14-12, but the Thunder stretched the lead to 20-15.

It was the theme of the match.

“We played defensive instead of putting the ball away like I know we can,” Rosson said. “We were afraid to make mistakes, and we tried to guess what they were going to do.”

The Bears almost found a way to steal game three after trailing 20-15. Kelsey Parker recorded two of her six kills to help Merced score seven of the next eight points to take a 22-21 lead.

However, the Thunder closed with four consecutive points to give Braceros a win against her alma mater in her first match as coach against the Bears.

“It was definitely nerve-racking,” Braceros said. “I just wanted the girls to have fun and play hard, and that’s exactly what we did.”

Turlock 3, Golden Valley 0 at Golden Valley – It was a rough start to conference play for the Cougars as the Bulldogs swept 25-10, 25-14, 25-20. Jadyn Tubbs and Emily Romo led Turlock with nine kills each and setter Julia Handy recorded 32 assists.

Abbee Croninger had six kills and four blocks for the Cougars (2-4).

Pitman 3, Atwater 0 in Turlock – Whitney Barnes and Yisel Perez each finished with 12 kills as the Pride (12-1, 1-0) swept Atwater 25-8, 25-10, 25-16. Brittany Massa led the Falcons with four kills and 12 digs.

Boys soccer

Livingston 2, Central Valley 0 in Ceres – Angel Ramirez and Enrique Medina each scored on a free kick to lift the Wolves past the Hawks. Livingston goalie Marco Sobrevilla turned in a strong game with seven saves.

Girls golf

CCC Midseason Tournament in Turlock – Brooke Vierra shot an 88 to lead Turlock (491) to a win at the Central California Conference Midseason Tournament at the Turlock Country Club. Buhach Colony (495) finished second behind Sabrina Thao’s 90 and Selena Thao’s 95.

WAC Midseason Tournament in Patterson – Salina Carbaugh shot a round of 93 to help El Capitan win the Western Athletic Conference Midseason Tournament at Diablo Grande. The Gauchos had a 407 team score. Livingston finished with 434.

Central Valley’s Janita Vongphoumy won the individual title with a 75. Los Banos’ Morgan Pimentel finished second with an 80.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Buhach Colony opens CCC volleyball play with win over Merced."