Hilmar volleyball team headed back to Sac-Joaquin Section title match

After falling short against Sonora in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV volleyball final the last two years, Hilmar had plenty of motivation to get back to the title match.

The Yellowjackets had extra incentive in Tuesday night’s semifinal against Bear River after Bruins coach Matt MacDonald complained his team deserved the No. 2 seed over Hilmar.

Playing with a chip on their shoulder, the second-seeded Yellowjackets made a statement with a 25-18, 25-17, 25-18 sweep to advance to the championship match against Sonora, the defending Division IV state champion, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Tokay High School in Lodi. Top-seeded Sonora swept Ripon 3-0 in the other semifinal.

“Our team dynamic was really good tonight,” said Yellowjackets star Emily Baptista, who had 24 kills and three aces. “We were really motivated. We read some newspaper article where they felt they should be the No. 2 seed. We wanted to take them out.”

After finishing the regular season 36-3, MacDonald told his hometown newspaper, The Union of Grass Valley, he felt his team was slighted being seeded No. 3 behind Hilmar because of Bear River’s record and higher rating on MaxPreps.com.

“I want an explanation,” MacDonald was quoted as saying after the playoff brackets were released. “I’m at a loss. What else do you have to do? It’s unbelievable.”

“When we saw that, it was like, ‘Oh, wow,’ ” Baptista said. “They said Hilmar doesn’t deserve it. We wanted to come out and show them we deserve the No. 2 seed.”

The Yellowjackets (35-6) came out focused and quickly fed off the energy from the crowd.

Baptista set the tone with nine kills and two aces in the first set as the Yellowjackets seized momentum and kept the pressure on the Bruins (38-4) all night. MacDonald was forced to burn timeouts early, which became a trend during the match.

When it wasn’t Baptista hammering a kill, it was middle blockers Mariah Ahid and Erin Benning playing big at the net and outside hitter Riley Souza and opposite hitter Danielle Couchman coming up with big swings when needed.

“We were determined to win tonight,” Hilmar coach Patti Harris said. “We finally got the team concept tonight. We were solid on defense and solid on offense. I know what this team is capable of, and we played good volleyball tonight.”

Hilmar trailed once, 1-0 in the third set.

The Yellowjackets took a 7-3 lead in the second set, causing MacDonald to burn another early timeout. The Bruins closed the deficit to two, but Hilmar pulled away to lead 2-0.

The third set was all Hilmar, as it sprinted to a 13-2 lead.

Setter Hannah Pearce had 36 assists, Avery Martin had 39 digs and Benning had three blocks for Hilmar.

“It’s amazing. It feels so great,” Ahid said. “I think when we play better teams, it makes us play better. Knowing that they wanted to beat us so bad made us want to beat them even more.”

It’s the third consecutive year Bear River has been bounced from the playoffs by Hilmar. Now, the Yellowjackets are hoping the third year is a charm when they face Sonora for the section title for the third consecutive season.

“I think it’s going to be a really good game,” Baptista said. “Sonora is a really good team. I think if we can play like we did tonight, we can put up a fight. It’s the third time I’ve got to play for the section championship. I really want to win a blue banner this time.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Hilmar volleyball team headed back to Sac-Joaquin Section title match."