In just their third year in existence, the Pitman High boys’ volleyball program is already earning a reputation for one of the best in the district, mirroring the success of their female classmates.
On April 17, right before going on spring break, the Pride capped off an undefeated season in the Central California Athletic League, defeating Enochs 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-20). It also marked the end of the most successful regular season in the team’s young history, a 22-8 overall record.
On Wednesday, they will embark on a third straight trip to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Division I playoffs, but with much higher expectations. The Pride are the highest seed they’ve ever been, slotting in at No. 11. It’s still not enough to host a first round home match, though, as they will travel to Elk Grove to take on No. 6 Monterey Trail (16-7) at 6 p.m.
“They’re a really good team. Definitely competitive,” said Pitman head coach Cat Silveira. “It’s for sure going to be a competitive game because we’re like that too. I know that the boys want this really, really bad.”
Silveira is in her first year coaching the team. She spent the past year serving as the head coach of the Chowchilla girls program.
The inaugural group was led by longtime girls coach Kristen Pontes-Christian. They achieved a 9-10 record and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by Folsom. Alumna Kaylin Randhawa took the helm last year, pushing their record to 11-13 and earning a home playoff win against Johnson of Sacramento before being eliminated by Jesuit.
So, how does a group of athletes, many of whom have little to no experience in the sport, make that big of a jump in a year’s time?
“It’s hard to say,” said Silveira with a laugh. “I didn’t really meet any of the boys until tryouts, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect. Volleyball is quite literally my life. Playing and coaching is my comfort place, my happy place, and I figured this opportunity would be really fun. I looked at what they had done the past few years, so I knew they’d be solid, but I’d be lying if I said I expected this.”
It certainly wasn’t expected after they lost their first three contests back in late February and early March, a sweep at the hands of Livingston and a pair of 2-1 losses to Edison and Clayton Valley Charter at the Stockton Kickoff tournament. They proceeded to string together their first two wins before dropping another three in a row, a sweep to Merced’s El Capitan and 2-1 and 2-0 losses to Merced and Madera at the Golden Valley Tournament. Then, the true domination began, winning their next 10.
“Once you're around them and you see them in practice,” Silveira said, “you see just how competitive they are. From tryouts on, they have been so determined to get better and work so hard day in and day out. I definitely saw the grit that this group of boys had and it started paying off.”
Their first league game came against crosstown counterpart Turlock on March 13, which they won in four sets. They then swept Downey and Modesto before suffering another two losses to Sierra of Manteca and Pleasant Grove at the Stockton Tournament. That’s when another 10 game winning streak was sparked.
In their return to league play at the start of April, they collected three straight sweeps of Enochs, Gregori and the Bulldogs. They then had to pull out a five-set victory on the road against Downey (30-28, 25-11, 21-25, 13-25, 15-12) on April 10.
The Knights proved to be the biggest threat to the Pride, finishing in second place at 8-2 and a 22-8 overall record.
It was smooth sailing from that point forward, with the Pride earning sweeps of Gregori and Modesto before the season finale at Enochs.
Silveira gives an abundance of credit to Pontes-Christian, who she called her “coaching mentor.” It’s needed wisdom as many on the team are new to the sport.
Most are multisport athletes, giving them a natural competitive fire despite the lack of experience, whether it be football’s Tristan Fuentes, Kingston DeLeon, Diego Cepeda and Grant Day, or water polo’s Carter Ippolito, Christian Munoz and Efren Munguia, or basketball’s Cole Martin and Aiden Davison. Others like Param Gill and Sadeeq Shinwari, meanwhile, have a sole focus on the fast-growing sport.
Silveira said that two or three had prior playing experience as part of the Rage Volleyball Club, while others, like co-captain Adrian Jacinto, joined just last year.
One man who has been there since the program’s inception has been fellow captain David Garcia, a senior who leads the Pride in nearly every statistical category and a player who Silveria described as “special” and “a beast.”
The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder had no prior experience in volleyball, and joined the Rage program after the inaugural season. His hard work and dedication is paying off big time now. Last week, he committed to continue his education and playing career at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.
“I am just so incredibly proud of him and the whole team,” Silveira said. “This is such a special group of boys, and their grit and motivation to get better and win is insane. I can’t ask for much more.”
The winner of Wednesday’s contest will take on the victor of No. 14 West of Tracy at No. 3 Laguna Creek on Friday.
