Kayley Souza finished with a team-high 13 kills, Olivia Peterson, Sara Chavez and Emma Martin tallied two blocks each, Julia Gonsalves had two aces and the Hilmar High Yellowjacket volleyball team kicked off league play with a home win over Ripon on Monday, 3-0.
“Our league record is nuts over the past few years… nuts. Tonight, the girls played really well. They played so well together as a team I am really happy with that,” said Hilmar head coach Patti Harris.
Since 2012, Hilmar volleyball has accumulated a Trans Valley League record of 78-4.
Since 2013, they have only lost twice in the TVL, both to Ripon in 2016.
Of the three sets played, only the first was competitive.
Ripon kicked off the game with the first two points, looking to set the tempo. But then Hilmar picked it up and went on a 5-1 run before they lost the lead.
Ripon led by as much as one point on three occasions in the first set, and even tied it seven different times before Hilmar pulled away.
Once the score read 15-15, Hilmar buckled down and managed to rally with a 10-3 run to win it 25-18.
Once the second set hit, Hilmar went on a roll and led by as many as 12 points.
They ended up getting a 25-15 victory to take a 2-0 lead.
In the third set, Hilmar won the most lopsided of the three after a 25-12 win.
“Ripon is always a good and tough team. They have a good program there. This year they are very scrappy and they played well and I am just happy to see the girls play together as a team. That was a good plus,” said Harris.
Martin finished with a game-high 25 assists, while Peterson also tallied two aces.
Hilmar’s overall record is now 11-5, while they snap a four-game losing streak.
Those four teams included Central Catholic, Turlock, Homestead and No. 15 in Nevada-Douglas.
“We are coming off some really tough preseason games and we played Turlock, went five sets with them… and coming from Reno was tough and we tried to find our groove. But it is good when you can play tough games in preseason and then they find it,” said Harris.
Hilmar will host Escalon at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“First game, and great to get that league win, then we have Escalon, back-to-back tough teams in league, they are good this year. Escalon will be a tough game,” Harris added.