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VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Turlock pulls upset, Hughson and Denair advance
Turlock volleyball
The Bulldogs (No. 10) pose for a photo after they pulled off one of the more improbable upsets across each of the six brackets by reverse-sweeping No. 7 Cosumnes Oaks on Tuesday (Photo contributed).

The road to blue banners began for local prep volleyball teams this week with the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. Earning bids this season were Turlock, Pitman, Denair, Hughson and Hilmar.

In Division I, No. 10 Turlock (17-14) pulled off one of the more improbable upsets across each of the six brackets by reverse-sweeping No. 7 Cosumnes Oaks on Tuesday. After dropping the first two sets by 19-25 and 14-25 scores, the Bulldogs ran the table with 25-16, 25-21 and 15-3 set wins. The match was clinched with a kill from senior Amelia Spaulding after the ball exchanged sides of the net a whopping 11 times, prompting a boisterous on-court celebration. The Bulldogs will now prepare for a Thursday road trip to take on No. 3 Rocklin (37-6) in the quarterfinal.

Hughson volleyball
The Huskies huddle during their sweep of Lincoln High on Tuesday (Photo contributed).

Back in Hughson, the top-seeded Huskies (23-9) continued its defense of the Division IV banner on Tuesday with a quick 25-13, 25-17, 25-9 sweep of No. 16 Lincoln. Thursday’s quarterfinal will be a Trans-Valley League rematch with No. 8 Sonora (10-12). The Huskies won each regular season matchup, 3-1 and 3-0, respectively.

In Division VI, No. 6 Denair (16-7) bounced back from an opening set loss against No. 11 Foresthill to win by a 18-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-16 score. The Southern League runner-up will travel to take on No. 3 Sacramento Country Day (14-8) in Thursday’s quarterfinal.

Another upset took place Tuesday in the Division V bracket with the elimination of last season's CIF State champion Hilmar. Hosting No. 13 Summerville (14-11) in the Division V bracket, the No. 4 Yellowjackets (15-17) lost a roller coaster of a clash by a 25-20, 24-26, 25-16, 23-25, 7-15 score.

No. 14 Pitman (22-10) played in two matches to start the week in the Division II bracket, ultimately seeing its season end on Tuesday. In Monday’s play-in against Armijo of Fairfield, the Pride pulled off an impressive sweep in just about an hour’s time. In Tuesday’s first round game, they fell 17-25, 18-25, 24-26 to No. 3 Vista Del Lago (19-8).

Each of Thursday’s quarterfinal games are slated to begin at 6 p.m.