ELK GROVE — The third meeting of the year between Trans-Valley League volleyball powerhouses Hughson and Sonora came Saturday on one of the biggest stages that the Sac-Joaquin Section had to offer — the Division IV championship game.
In front of a capacity crowd at Cosumnes River College, the No. 3 Huskies overcame a first-set loss to the top-seeded Wildcats to win by a 24-26, 25-19, 25-14, 25-18 score and lift the first blue banner in program history.
Though it was uncharted territory for the school, it wasn’t for first-year head coach Sarah Beers, who coached at Modesto’s Big Valley Christian the previous four seasons, where the Lions went to three consecutive section championship games and won it all in 2021. Despite her postseason pedigree, Beers admitted a title in her first year at the helm for the Huskies was a bit unexpected.
“When I stepped into the gym in the summer, when we did summer open gyms, I absolutely thought this group had huge potential,” Beers said. “Did I know if we could get all the way here for sure this year? I wasn't, like, confident confident, but I knew it was a possibility.”
Having elite hitters was helpful throughout the season, but especially Saturday as the Huskies overcame early adversity from Sonora.
After building a 6-1 lead in the opening set, the Wildcats went on a 4-0 run that fired up their supporters in the bleachers and completely shifted the momentum. The Huskies battled back to a 22-17 lead until Sonora’s Dixie Nessl strung together four kills, paired with a number of Hughson hits out of bounds and an ace, to pull out the 26-24 win.
In the second set, it was Hughson staging a comeback after falling behind 5-1 after another three aces from Sonora. The Hughson duo of Addison Yarbrough and Olivia Piazza promptly took over. Yarbrough, a freshman, was responsible for six kills and an ace, while Piazza, a junior, had four kills and a block in the frame.
The third set was dominated by the Huskies, who quickly built a 9-3 lead backed by two blocks from freshman Avery Harp, another kill from Yarbrough, a spike by Paisley Peterson and an ace from Izzy Piazza. Olivia Piazza, who entered the match with 397 kills (the most on the team and 13th-most in the Sac-Joaquin Section), capped off the set with a kill, her fourth of the frame.
Yarbrough and Piazza combined for another nine points in the fourth set, with Yarbrough tabbing consecutive aces to push the lead to 22-15. But it was Harp who ended the contest in defiant fashion with a kill to send the Wildcats packing and the Hughson faithful into celebration.
“That was the thing I told them over and over: ‘As soon as you step into this identity that you guys are these (caliber of) players and you're these winners, you guys can take anything. You really can,’” Beers said. “I even told them that in between one of the sets and again after I called a timeout… I think we were down by like four, and I told them to not forget their identity. You are winners. You are champions. Live in that, find joy in that, remember to play from that place.”
Yarbrough finished with 20 kills and five aces. Piazza totaled 13 kills, while Harp contributed with five kills and three blocks.
When asked if she anticipated so much individual and team success so early in her high school career, Yarbrough admittedly didn’t think so.
“Obviously, we all wanted to win the section, we all wanted to go to sections, but I didn't really know how it worked,” she said with a laugh. “I didn't know how far we could go. And then once we heard that we could still go to sections (after falling short in the TVL), and then when we did make it to sections, it was just crazy. I did not expect it.”
Yarbrough is the niece of Beers, and although there is always a period of adjustment and acclimation for freshman players, the head coach had a hunch that the 5-foot-10 outside hitter would make a significant impact.
“She's my niece, and I know her very well and I knew what that kid had to offer,” Beers said. “But I don't think she knew… She does superhuman things in the gym. I ask myself, ‘How did she do that?' Certainly not because I coached it. She's just an incredible athlete. So gifted.”
Piazza, one of just seven upperclassmen on the 17-man roster, also felt differently about what the team was capable of, knowing the hard work they have put in over the years and the progress they made after a tough TVL schedule in which they went 5-7 for a sixth-place finish.
“TVL definitely prepared us, because every single league game was tough,” the 5-foot-10 hitter said, referring to the fact that six of seven teams in the conference played deep into the postseason. “There were no games off, and so that really just prepped us for playoffs, because we were able to sweep all the teams before Sonora. That really just shows how hard our league was and how that pushed us to get better each week.”
The season series between Hughson and Sonora was split, with the Wildcats sweeping the Huskies 25-17, 25-23, 25-22 in their first meeting on Sept 18 and Hughson pulling away in five sets (25-21, 25-15, 22-25, 16-25, 15-10) on Oct. 14. Yarbrough felt as if the familiarity with the Wildcats was helpful in their film reviews and practices leading up to Saturday’s contest.
With a 28-10 overall record and a blue banner to add to their gymnasium, the Huskies now turn their attention to the 2025 California Interscholastic Federation State Volleyball Championships, which begin Tuesday.
The Huskies landed in the Division III bracket, seeded ninth in the Northern California region and set to travel to Fresno on Tuesday to take on No. 8 Bullard (29-9), the Central Section’s D-3 champion.
“Just stay on this high at each practice,” Piazza said of how her team would stay focussed ahead of the state tournament. “Keep working hard and realizing the level of play that we're capable of and never dipping below that. Now, we know we're a section-winning team, and that's the standard.”
Pitman and Hilmar also set for NorCal matches
Also in the Division III tournament is Pitman High, seeded third in the NorCal half of the bracket after receiving an at-large berth. The Pride will host No. 14 Shasta of Redding (20-10) on Tuesday. The Wolves were bounced from the Northern Section’s Division II bracket last week in the semifinal round, losing 3-1 to Foothill.
The Pride were eliminated in the quarterfinal of this year’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs on Oct. 30, as they were swept by St. Mary’s. Nevertheless, with a 27-10 overall record, including a fourth straight undefeated CCAL campaign, their overall section ranking of 15 kept them in the conversation as one the region’s top teams.
And if there is any team in the region that knows just how unpredictable the state tournament can be, it is Hilmar High. After losing in the semifinals of last year’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV tournament, the Yellowjackets ran the table, winning four matches to claim the title as Northern California regional champions, outscoring opponents 9-2 in the process.
The Lady ‘Jackets are back in the dance, hungry to defend their crown. With a 22-16 overall record, they enter this year’s state tournament seeded second on the Northern California side of Division V bracket. They will host No. 14 Encinal of Alameda (12-17), of the North Coast Section at Strom Gymnasium on Tuesday. The Jets were eliminated in five sets by San Francisco’s Gateway in the semifinal round of the section’s Division V tournament last week.
All games on Tuesday are slated to get underway at 6 p.m.
