Central Valley’s boys volleyball team lost for the second time this season to Merced on Thursday.

The Hawks dropped to fourth place in the Central California Conference standings following their 25-17, 25-17, 25-11 loss to the first-place Bears  in Central California Conference play.

Central Valley fell to 9-5 overall and 3-4 in league play.

“Merced has one of the better teams in the area,” Hawks’ said Coach Donald Dudley. “They do everything right. When you play a team like that, you have to minimize your errors.”

Central Valley suffered a 25-16, 25-13, 25-11 loss at Merced on March 8.

The Hawks showed marked improvement during the second meeting.

Central Valley challenged Merced in the first and second sets.

“We looked better as a team this time,” Dudley said. “We didn’t have any rotation errors. We improved our communication. We did a great job getting digs. We could have stolen a set if we received better.”

Yoshi Kumar had 12 digs, nine kills, two blocks, one ace and one assist in defeat.

Osvaldo Pelayo had six assists and five digs.

Gerardo Pentoja had six digs and one kill.

Guillermo Garibay had five digs, four assists, three kills and one ace.

Gage Mastropierro had four digs and one ace.

Bernardo Pulido had three assists, two digs and one kill.

Andrew Dong had two blocks.

“We passed the ball really well,” Dudley said. “But we couldn’t get the ball to our best player. They did a great job of identifying him (Yoshi) and serving away from him.”

Central Valley will face Buhach Colony and Patterson this week.

“This is the most important week for us,” Dudley said.

The Hawks are battling for the CCC’s fourth-and-final playoff spot.

Central Valley has never qualified for the postseason.

“Everyone has the same goal,” Dudley said. “We want to compete and have fun.”

Dawgs no longer winless

Ceres High’s boys volleyball team won one of its two league matches last week.

The Bulldogs snapped a seven-match losing streak with 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 29-27) road victory over the Los Banos Tigers on March 28. 

Ceres High avenged a 3-1 loss.

Yair Munoz led the Bulldogs with 12 digs, 10 kills and three aces.

Ceres High lost 3-1 (20-25, 26-24, 26-24, 25-16) to Grace Davis on March 30 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

The Bulldogs dropped to 2-10 on the season and 1-7 in the Western Athletic Conference standings.