Another playoff game, another quick sweep for the Hilmar volleyball program.

On Thursday evening inside Strom Gymnasium, the No. 2 Yellowjackets cruised to a 25-15, 25-15, 25-15 win over No. 7 Futures of Sacramento in the quarterfinal round of Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoffs.

The victory sets up the reigning CIF Northern California Division IV champions, now 22-15 on the year, with No. 3 Sutter. The Huskies defeated No. 6 Linden on Thursday in four sets.

The semifinal match will take place Tuesday at 6 p.m. back on Hilmar’s home court.

By appearing in the semifinal round, each team has already clinched an automatic berth to the regional tournament taking place later this month.

Last season, the Yellowjackets similarly swept through the first two rounds before losing 3-0 to Liberty Ranch in the semifinal. Head coach Patti Harris believes her team is ready to take on their next challenge, knowing to not take their foot off the gas pedal.

“We’ve been in the playoffs a lot, so we know how it is (the deeper you play),” Harris said. “We’ll really try to prepare ourselves by watching a lot of film and learning some of their tendencies. But it’s hard to play teams from Sacramento that you’ve never seen, but the girls have been doing a good job.”

The Knights were no different, but as in their first round win against the Leroy Greene Academy earlier this week, hitters Alyssa Colston and Reese Ahlem were too much. The duo dominated on the offensive side of the net Thursday, tabbing eight kills apiece.

Colston, a senior, set the tone with a kill in the very first seconds of the match, and the Lady ‘Jackets never looked back. In that opening set, Colston scored three of Hilmar’s first six points as they built a quick 6-2 advantage. The Knights momentarily fought back to tie the score at 10-10 after three ace serves and a handful of Hilmar serving errors before junior Emily Barroso helped build an 18-12 with three spikes of her own. The set ended with a Knights offering landing out of bounds.

Ahlem, a junior, kickstarted the second set with a kill, her first of five scores in the frame. She added another kill and combined with senior Stella Pires with three blocks, setting the table for Colston to get a set-ending kill.

Ahlem led the team with five blocks. Pires, meanwhile, did a bit of everything. Aside from her seven kills and tying with senior Emma Gomes for a team-high three aces on the evening, she recorded six digs and 18 assists.

The two teams battled to a 4-4 tie to start the third set before another Ahlem kill gave the Yellowjackets the lead for good. The 6-foot-2 middle hitter added two more as the game winded down. Freshman Johanna Lawler pitched in three kills and a block to help her team pull away late. Lawler totaled four blocks by game’s end.

“Everyone has a job, and if they’re all doing it well like they did today, it makes for a good team,” Harris said of nearly all her players contributing on the stat sheet.

“We have a deep bench that allows us to have a lot of lineups,” added assistant Avery Cano. “It’s a dynamic team.”

“And we’ve been really fluid,” continued Harris. “All season, it’s been crazy with us switching up the lineups. It’s been working well.”

Hughson 3, Union Mine 0

Another TVL team has also been sweeping through the competition to start the postseason.

Up in the Division IV bracket, No. 3 Hughson won their second straight playoff game in straight sets Thursday against No. 6 Union Mine, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18.

The victory came two days after the Huskies similarly dismantled No. 14 Casa Roble by a 25-17, 25-6, 25-11 score.

Hughson’s overall record improves to 26-10.

The Huskies will now hit the road to Sacramento to take on No. 2 West Campus in the semifinal round. Like the Yellowjackets, they’ll appear in the regional playoffs regardless of Tuesday’s result.

St. Mary’s (Stockton) 3, Pitman 0

Pitman, the No. 5 ranked team in the Division I bracket, took the trip to Stockton on Thursday to take on No. 4 St. Mary’s in the quarterfinal round. They were on the wrong end of a sweep, though two sets went down to the wire.

In the opening set, the Rams escaped with a 25-23 victory. They secured a more comfortable 25-10 win in the second frame before pulling away late in the third by a score of 25-18.

The Pride, this year’s CCAL champion, ends their season with a 27-10 overall record.

Davis 3, Turlock 0

Turlock’s season came to a close Tuesday with a 3-0 road loss to Davis in the opening round of the Division I playoffs.

The Bulldogs, the No. 9 seed, had the No. 8 Blue Devils on the ropes for the entirety of the match, despite the three set wins in favor of the host team.

Davis earned a 25-21 win in the opening set before the two teams traded blows, though the Devils squeaked by with a 25-23 victory. The final set ended by the same score, ending Turlock’s season at 22-11 overall.

Woodland Christian 3, Denair 0

Denair, seeded No. 12,  was unable to garner much momentum in the opening round of the Division VI bracket, getting swept by No. 5 Woodland Christian 25-9, 25-11, 25-13.

Despite the early exit, the Coyotes achieved their second-best record in program history at 16-8 overall, just one win less than last year’s run.