Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s boys volleyball programs showed major improvement this past spring.

Expect more of the same from the Bulldogs and Hawks in 2026.

“I have a lot of confidence in my guys,” Ceres High fifth-year head coach Kelly Heese said. “Every time they step on the court, there’s going to be growth. They’re taking it serious. They’re not quitters. They have a desire to win.”

“We have high expectations,” Central Valley second-year leader Julio Madrigal said. “We have experience. The boys have bought in. We were averaging 30 kids during offseason workouts. We did open gyms. We did conditioning. We were in the weight room. That’s what you want. It’s a blessing as a coach to have athletes that are committed year-round. They’re motivated.”

The Bulldogs will field teams at all three levels this season.

A total of 60 players attended tryouts.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Heese said. “This is the largest turnout that we have had. We had to make cuts. We usually don’t get enough kids to make cuts. We have a freshman team now. That’s huge. When you don’t have a freshman team, they miss an entire year of development. They’re always a year behind. There’s a lot of work to be done to get caught up to where you need to be.”

Ceres High’s varsity squad has a 13-person roster.

“We have a lot of talent,” Heese said.

The Bulldogs return six players from a year ago, including Kiahn Bacon (Sr.), Jael Mendoza (Sr.), Ismael Pulido (Sr.), Eric Rodriguez (Sr.), Daniel Quijano (Jr.) and Geremiah Sio (Jr.).

Ceres High has seven new players: Danny Benavidez (Sr.), Fernando Galvan (Sr.), Mauricio Leon (Sr.), Cristopher Nava (Sr.), Joel Quintana (Sr.), Isaiahis Romero (Jr.) and Aiden Bowen (Jr.).

“They’re very eager and want to learn,” Heese said.

The Bulldogs lost six players to graduation, including Fernando Aguilar, Ernesto Alvarez, Anthony Estrada, Manuel Ortega, Gio Sio and Joshua Tagle.

Galvan and Geremiah Sio have been named team captains.

“Their leadership stands above everybody else with their accountability,” Heese said. “Fernando fell into the role. He’s really put the work in. He takes charge and makes things happen. He’s become a great asset to the team. This is Geremiah’s third year on the team. He’s a very crucial player. He can hit. He can pass. He can do it all.” 

The Hawks are also fielding teams at all three levels.

A total of 43 players attended tryouts.

“It’s not a walk in the park when you try out,” Madrigal said. “It’s competitive. There are no set positions. We’re going to continue to develop kids. The future is bright.”

Central Valley has an 11-person varsity roster.

“We got guys that can play anywhere” Madrigal said. “We have quite a bit of options.”

The Hawks return eight players from a year ago, including Garrett Akiona (Jr.), Nicolas Garcia (Jr.), Dominic Gudino (Jr.), Isaias Quijano (Jr.), Ricardo Roa Barragan (Jr.), Juan Serafin (Jr.), Elias Espinoza (So.) and Zachary Silva (So.), 

Central Valley has three newcomers: Kevin Camargo (Sr.), Alexander Ceja (Jr.) and Malik Pavlovich (So.).

The Hawks lost three players to graduation, including David Luna, Sebastian Pelayo and Karandeep Singh.

Akiona has been named team captain.

He earned Western Athletic Conference honorable-mention recognition as a sophomore.

He collected 122 assists, 89 blocks, 46 digs, 34 kills and 22 aces as Central Valley’s setter.

Akiona ranked first on the team in assists, second in aces and digs, and third in kills and blocks.

“He’s positive,” Madrigal said. “He encourages his teammates. He leads by example.”

Garcia will also fill a key role.

He garnered honorable-mention league accolades sophomore year.

He collected 69 blocks, 61 kills, 26 aces and 19 digs at outside hitter.

Garcia ranked first on the team in aces, second in kills, fourth in blocks and fifth in digs.

“I challenged him this year to improve on his defense,” Madrigal said. 

Ceres High enjoyed one of its most successful seasons to date in 2025 by compiling an 11-9 overall record and finishing fourth overall in the WAC with an 8-6 mark.

Central Valley posted a 4-19 overall record and tripled its win total while finishing in sixth place in the league standings with a 3-12 mark.

Livingston (13-1), Beyer (12-2), Lathrop (11-3) and Grace Davis (5-9) took first, second, third and fifth, respectively.

Johansen (1-11) and Pacheco (1-11) tied for last place.

“The good thing about the WAC is all the coaches are friendly and supportive,” Madrigal said. “They want to see the WAC (as a whole) be successful and see the sport grow.”

“It’s nice to have friendly competition,” Heese added. “I enjoy the competition.”

The top three teams in the WAC will be awarded Sac-Joaquin Section playoff berths.

“You can’t count anybody out,” Heese said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

“Some teams might overlook us,” Madrigal added. 

Ceres High last participated in the playoffs in 2023.

Central Valley has yet to make a postseason appearance.

“The boys are thinking why not us,” Madrigal said. 

“We’re going to compete,” Heese stated. “We’ll play the best we can. That’s all we can do.”