High school volleyball championships: Champions crowned, including back-to-back titles
John Jay never envisioned being doused with an ice bucket inside a gymnasium.
He forgave his Buchanan High girls volleyball team for doing that with a very good reason.
The top-seeded Bears won the Central Section Division I title with a 25-20, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19 victory over No. 2 San Luis Obispo on Thursday night.
“Just this accumulation of everything that we put into it is paying off,” Jay said afterwards. “The girls were elated and excited and happy and everybody is in a happy place right now.
Buchanan is two seasons removed from being 10-24 and 0-10 in the Tri-River Athletic Conference.
The Bears improved last season by going 28-17 and 3-7 in the conference, capped by a section Division II title.
This season was even better when Buchanan won the TRAC with a 9-1 record and going 33-9 during the season.
“They put in a lot of work, really,” Jay said. “Twenty-two girls and no drama. These girls are tight-knit. They play together for each other at every point. It was exciting to see.”
Jay pointed at senior outside hitter Grace Goudy for rounding the team together and putting on a performance especially in the section title game.
Prior to Thursday’s match,. Goudy had 402 kills, 326 digs, 17 assists and 13 blocks. She finished with 24 digs, 12 kills and one block in Thursday’s match.
“She’s unbelievable,” Jay said. “She’s a great student-athlete; our captain, great leader and works extremely hard. We definitely wouldn’t be where we’re at without her.”
Samantha Arron had 21 kills, three digs and one block. Others include Kalli Sanchez (seven kills, five digs, one block); Clara Garcia (31 digs, two aces).
As far as the ice bucket, Jay said he was not sure how it would pan out on the hardwood but “that was exciting. Pretty cool.”
Division II
No. 4 Bakersfield Christian defeated No. 2 Exeter 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-17.
Division III
It’s never easy winning back-to-back titles, but that’s what Kingsburg did.
The top-seeded Vikings handled No. 6 Bullard 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 25-18.
“Growing as players and just becoming smarter and learning to play together,” Kingsburg coach Kristen Bray said. “Just becoming smarter teammates. I think that really helped our team out. Just trusting each other and getting comfortable with each other on the court.”
Leading the way for Kingsburg was outside hitter Sydnee Wilson with 16 kills, followed by middle blocker Asia Allen with 14 kills. Macy Visser Oppo added eight kills for the Vikings.
Kingsburg started the season with losses at Garza and Stockdale.
After a loss to Central Valley Christian on Oct. 12, the Vikings won the next six matches including Thursday’s clinching title win.
“We all have the same goal in mind becoming back-to-back champions,” Bray said. “The only way to do that is to work together and be good teammates. Stay positive throughout the entire season and all of those things will eventually end in the one we were looking for.”
Division IV
Fresno Christian was close to being done against Mammoth for the section championship.
The Eagles were down 14-12 in the fifth set before extending the match and winning the decisive set 17-15 to clinch back-to-back titles.
“The girls persevered,” Fresno Christian coach Steven Guglielmana said. “Just kept giving effort and showed a lot of grit and focus on the right things and playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”
Jordyn DeGroot led the Eagles with 15 kills and Faith DeGroot had 10 kills and four blocks. Sarah Guglielmana had 28 assists for Fresno Christian.
Match scores were 25-13, 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 17-15.
“It’s something that they’re realizing that not every high school athlete gets a chance to win a championship,” Guglielmana said.
“Even fewer get a chance to win two. They’re part of a special group.”
Division V
No. 1 California City defeated No. 3 Chowchilla in four sets.
Division VI
Roosevelt coach Heather Loflin said after her 12th seeded Rough Riders defeated No. 2 Farmersville 11-25, 25-18, 25-27, 25-15, 15-4 that there is shock but also “relieved” and “surreal” to win a section title.
“I feel like all those ups and downs really brought us to this moment when we got to the playoffs,” she said.
“Last year was the first year we made the playoffs in a very long time. When we got to the first round of the playoffs (this year), they just crushed it. They came out like the team that I knew they could be. I knew the talent was there.”
Faith Cortez had 11 kills, 18 digs and three aces for Roosevelt. Also contributing were Areli Soto (30 assists, six aces, four digs, two kills); Esmeralda Zuniga (eight kills, eight digs, two aces); Call Yang (six digs); Meyling Arevalo (24 digs); Nataly Elguero (12 digs); Shareena Willis (10 kills, two digs, one block); Celeste Aldana (10 digs, five kills, two aces, one block); Natalie Thao (two aces) and Ciara Jimenez (five kills, one dig).
Loflin can admit she can be tough on her players, but realized she had to be patient Thursday. She knew in the fourth set that her team was destined to win the match.
“I just remember seeing so many amazing plays from each individual player,” she said. “Doing the things that they needed to do and making a play. So many proud moments.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
