The Pitman High volleyball squad is now 10-0 in the Central California Conference after taking down cross-town rivals Turlock High, 3-0, at home in straight sets (25-9, 25-7 and 25-12).
After Thursdays win, the Pride clinched their third consecutive CCC title and 29th straight league victory dating back to 2011. It has been a team effort for the top team in the league and they don’t look to slow down anytime soon.
“The girls have been able to stay motivated and focus on (our) play no matter what is happening on the other side of the net,” Pitman head coach Kristen Pontes said. “We work extremely hard on staying consistent and controlling what we can on our side; all balls we can control as far as keeping unforced errors down and staying consistent, that’s all we can do especially getting ready for the postseason.”
Pitman played nearly perfect as the Turlock Bulldogs were unable to find their mojo all game long, missing passes on countless occasions, while struggling to put the ball down in play.
“Pitman is always the team to beat since they don’t commit a lot of mistakes,” Turlock head coach Amber Castillon said. “Our girls did what they could, but still we were unable to move our feet right the way they needed to. For some reason, they were unable to reach out and grab the ball numerous times and our offense was not there because our passing was off. We just had a lot of problems tonight.”
In a day where the ‘Dogs failed to produce much offense or defense, the Pride were on point all-around, consistently working as a team and they showed it on the court.
Effort from all the ladies was needed as Lindsey Vander Weide finished the match with six kills, while Stephanie Simmons added five.
Moriah Halteman topped out with six digs while sister Maddy Halteman finished with 26 assists. Melinda Gonzalez added seven blocks while Spencer Bronken topped out the day with five digs. Lauren Solis finished with two aces.
“We kept 14 girls on our roster for a reason. All our players are talented in some form and they all contribute to the team,” Pontes said. “I am very happy with the girl’s performance tonight and they all stayed focus and energized and that’s sometimes difficult especially in league seeing the same teams over and over again. I am very proud of the way we played.”
The leaders for the ‘Dogs were Lauren Clark, who topped out with five digs while Emily Romo had five kills. Katie Green finished with six blocks while Courtney Crivelli added seven assists.
“It’s always hard going up against the big dawgs because we seem to have some doubts and we just couldn’t do it tonight,” Castillon said.
The Pride will travel up north as they compete in the very tough Stockton Classic on Saturday. On Saturday, Turlock High will travel to compete in the Edison Tournament.
