Kelly Heese and Donald Dudley will serve as head coaches of Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s boys volleyball programs, respectively, this spring.
Heese, who also doubles as Ceres High’s girls leader, previously coached at Central Valley.
This is Dudley’s first year coaching volleyball.
The Bulldogs had their 2021 season cut short due to coronavirus-safety concerns.
The Hawks didn’t field boys volleyball teams the past two years due to a lack of numbers.
“COVID took a lot of great memories from student-athletes all over the nation,” Dudley said. “I am glad that these young adults are getting the chance to play a full volleyball season as this will be the last time the majority of them play it competitively.”
“When God closes one door, He opens another,” Heese said. “I’m extremely happy to be here. I’m always up for a challenge. I’ll do the best I can to coach them to the best of my ability. I’m never going to stop pushing. But they have to have expectations for themselves.”
Central Valley’s roster consists of eight players: Guillermo Garibay (Sr.), Yoshi Kumar (Sr.), Bernardo Pulido (Sr.), Elias Vasquez (Sr.), Gage Mastropierro (Jr.), Gerardo Pantoja (Jr.), Andrew Dong (So.) and David Luna (Fr.).
Kumar and Pantoja are team captains.
Kumar earned first-team, all-Central California Conference honors as a freshman.
“He (Kumar) has been able to help lead practices and is constantly providing his knowledge of the game to other players on and off the court,” Dudley said. “Being a new coach in volleyball, he has made my transition easy as it feels like I have an assistant coach out there with me. He has a great passion for the game and is doing a great job of working on his craft and also helping develop the future varsity hitters in the program.”
Ceres High’s roster consists of 11 players, including Bryce Piatt (Sr.), Yair Munoz (Sr.), Rajneel Singh (Sr.), Elijah Vas Dinis (Sr.), Jessie Villalobos (Sr.), Isaiah De La Torre (Jr.), David Flores (Jr.), Ethan Oiterong (Jr.), Izaiah Rodriguez (Jr.), Faiva Tuakalau (Jr.) and Andre Pina (So.).
Munoz and De La Torre are team captains.
The Hawks and Bulldogs will compete in the CCC and Western Athletic Conference, respectively, this year.
The two leagues reassembled following realignment last spring due to COVID-19.
Central Valley will battle Patterson, Atwater, Buhach Colony, Merced, Golden Valley and El Capitan.
Ceres High will play Mountain House, Lathrop, Grace Davis, Los Banos and Pacheco.
Ceres High compiled a perfect 4-0 record against WAC South Division competition during the 2021 COVID-shortened season.
The Bulldogs set two program records in 2019 by notching 19 victories and finishing second overall in the WAC standings (9-3). Ceres High also secured its second playoff berth in team history.
Central Valley amassed a 5-16 overall record and finished fifth in the CCC standings (4-8) during its last full season in 2019.
“The main goal for this season is to make the playoffs and have fun doing that,” Dudley said. “Another goal for our season is to just enjoy playing a full season as volleyball is fairly new to CV and has been gone for the past two seasons due to COVID. The CCC is a tough league so we need to be prepared every night for tough competition and is great to see the different talent schools in the area have.”
“If we make the playoffs, that would be considered a successful season,” he added. “However, not having a boys volleyball team for the last two seasons, just being competitive throughout the league will be the measuring stick.”
“This year will be challenging,” Heese said. “We have an inexperienced team. We have to start at the bottom and work our way up. It’s about maturing as players and growing as a team. I’m going to support them through thick and thin. As long as they give it their all, that’s all I can ask of them.”