Ceres High’s boys volleyball program experienced a big turnaround this spring.
Crosstown-rival Central Valley showed improvement during the course of the season.
“This has been one of the strongest teams I’ve had,” Bulldogs’ head coach Kelly Heese said.
“They definitely got better as a team,” Hawks’ leader Julio Madrigal said.
Ceres High and Central Valley closed out the 2025 campaign this past month.
The Bulldogs topped the host Pacheco Panthers 3-0 on April 23.
Ceres High enjoyed one of its most successful seasons to date by compiling an 11-9 overall record and placing fourth in the Western Athletic Conference with an 8-6 mark.
“If we would have placed third, we would have made playoffs,” Heese said. “To barely fall short is tough.”
Livingston (13-1), Beyer (12-2) and Lathrop (11-3) took first, second and third, respectively, in the WAC.
The Bulldogs finished ahead of Grace Davis, Central Valley, Johansen and Pacheco in the conference standings.
Ceres High had a combined record of 8-0 versus those four teams.
The Bulldogs finished 6-19 and fifth in the WAC (5-9) in 2024.
Fernando Aguilar (Sr.), Ernesto Alvarez (Sr.), Kiahn Bacon (Sr.), Anthony Estrada (Sr.), Manuel Ortega (Sr.), Gio Sio (Sr.), Joshua Tagle (Sr.), Jael Mendoza (Jr.), Ismael Pulido (Jr.), Geramiah Sio (So.) and Daniel Quijon (so.) made up Ceres High’s 11-person roster this year.
“Guys came back,” Heese stated. “I didn’t have to retrain new players.”
“The goal was for there to be progress,” she added. “I do feel there was. We competed much better.”
Aguilar, Alvarez, Bacon, Estrada, Ortega, Sio and Tagle will be lost to graduation.
“They love the sport,” Heese said. “They work hard. The majority of them have played for me for at least three years. It makes it tough saying goodbye.”
The Hawks dropped their season finale, 3-0, to Livingston on April 23 in Ceres.
Seniors David Luna, Sebastian Pelayo and Karandeep Singh were honored before their last match.
“We’ll definitely have a void to fill,” Madrigal said.
Central Valley posted a 4-19 overall record and placed sixth in the WAC with a 3-12 mark.
The Hawks finished 6-18 and seventh in the WAC (1-11) in 2024.
“Regardless of who was in there, the kids competed,” Madrigal said. “They started to trust each other. They were communicating a lot more.”
Luna, Pelayo, Singh (Sr.), Garrett Akiona (Jr.), David Alvarez (Jr.), Ricardo Roa Barragan (Jr.), Diego Mendoza Camparan (Jr.), Nicolas Garcia (Jr.), Dominic Gudino (Jr.), Sergio Molina (Jr.), Isaias Quijano (Jr.), Pablo Serafin (Jr.), Nathan Vang (Jr.), Elias Espinoza (Fr.) and Zachary Silva (Fr.) made up Central Valley’s 15-person roster this year.
Luna, Pelayo and Singh will be lost to graduation.
“They wanted to be there,” Madrigal said. “They worked hard. They stepped up to the challenge. We’ll be ready to make some noise next year.”
