Pitman volleyball beats Turlock in five-set thriller to remain perfect in CCAL play

Not many things in Stanislaus District sports compare to a rivalry volleyball match between Pitman and Turlock.

Players’ cheers on the court are louder, student section chants ring with more fervor, and each point means that much more.

The Pride beat the Bulldogs 18-25, 25-16, 25-18, 23-25, 15-12 Tuesday in a thrilling five-set match where emotions were high, parents and students were on edge and players on each side were scratching and clawing for a key Central California Athletic League win.

Pitman advanced to 24-6 overall and 6-0 in league play. The Pride are the No. 8 team in the Sac-Joaquin Section and have wins against some of the best teams across the northern and southern parts of the state. Each game presents its own challenges for the Pride, but is there any regular season contest that means more than the two league matchups against their crosstown rivals?

“No,” said senior Mia Ngo. “These two teams normally dominate the league, so to have us two go against each other is the biggest game, probably.”

This makes a win even sweeter.

The Pride have won 26 straight CCAL matches, dating back to 2022. And the last time they lost to their rivals was in 2019. Pitman volleyball has won 10 straight against Turlock.

“It’s my senior year,” Ngo said. “I wanted to go 10-0 (in CCAL). In five sets, it’s a big win. It’s really nice.”

Ngo played arguably her best all-around game to lead her team to victory. She recorded 17 kills, 12 digs, seven blocks and six aces in the win. All are career highs in each category.

“She went out there and stuff-blocked people, went up and put the ball away, hit the spots that I gave her,” Pitman coach Ari Amini. “I’m a proud coach at the moment.”

The Pride dropped the first set but quickly rebounded, winning the second and third sets. They used a 7-2 run in the middle of the set to open up a seven-point advantage. They kept the Bulldogs at bay for the rest of the set. Junior Maryn Hall finished off the 25-16 win with one of her team-high 21 kills.

The Pride’s defense powered them to the win. Ngo, Alyssa Moreno and Shanna Russell combined for 11 blocks, and five players combined for 111 digs. Junior Aila Reich led the way with 34 digs.

“For me, I know that (defense) is my job,” Reich said. “I try to make sure I’m going all out, aggressive and getting everything I can and communicating really well with my teammates.

“I’m so glad we won. I know the girls really wanted it.”

The Pride had to contain Turlock’s talented outside hitters Lauren Parker and Amelia Spaulding, the team’s leaders in kills. Amini says the talented hitters were good preparation for what they could see down the line in the postseason.

“(The team) learned how to adapt to strong outsides,” Amini said. “We struggled at our tournament this weekend with the same thing. Keep on working on our defense because we have strong hitters as long as we’re passing the ball, we’ll put the ball away. … It will definitely benefit us for playoffs, seeing this caliber of hitters.”

Pitman jumped ahead early in the first-to-15 fifth set, opening up an 6-2 advantage, forcing a Turlock timeout. The Bulldogs fell behind 8-3 but stormed back. Though they never left in the fifth set, they pulled within one and tied the match at 8-8. After that tie, Pitman finished the match on a 7-4 run.

Turlock head coach Stacie Macias said the key to the Bulldogs’ success in the first and fourth sets was their execution in blocking and serve receive.

“We were able to contain some of their strong hitters in the first set and fight back hard in the fourth set,” she said. “But our passing kind of shut down in the second and third sets, we got it back in the fourth, and we battled in the fifth set.”

After the emotional and physical toll of a five-set rivalry match, the Turlock coaches have to get the team ready for another key league match Thursday.

“We’re definitely very proud of them, there’s nothing wrong with the outcome of that match,” Macias said of her message to the team. “It could have gone either way and they played their hearts out. They did exactly what we asked them to do. We just go back to work the next day and take on the next match like we always do.”

The Bulldogs take on Modesto as they look to maintain second place in the league. Pitman puts its perfect league record against Downey Thursday at home.

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