Griz knocked out by Colfax during round two of playoffs

After having back-to-back undefeated seasons as Southern League champs, the Mariposa County High School varsity volleyball team dominated the first round of playoffs against the Bret Harte Bullfrogs on Oct. 28 at MCHS.

The Grizzlies shutout Bret Harte 3-0.

Set scores for the game were 25-10, 25-15 and 25-15.

“Our serving was really good tonight,” said coach Holly Earling.

“We struggled a little bit the past few games with our passing but tonight we did well.”

Sage Hawley had eight kills, two aces and six digs while Gillian Pioske had 11 kills and six digs.

Emma Pioske had a night with five kills, 10 digs and 25 assists.

Izzy Whited had five kills while Taylor Krull had five aces and eight digs.

Mia Hansen ended the night with 15 digs, three assists and two aces.

Bret Harte knocked the Grizzlies out of the playoffs during two of the last three seasons.

“Obviously that was in the back of our heads,” Earling said.

“The last two playoffs they knocked us out so it was a little extra motivation. Everything just worked well tonight.”

End of the line

The Grizzlies traveled to Sacramento on Oct. 30 to face the Colfax Falcons for round two of the playoffs.

Colfax ended the Grizzlies playoff run with a final score of 3-1.

Set scores were 25-23 (MCHS), 25-13 (Colfax), 28-26 (Colfax) and 25-23 (Colfax).

“It was a competitive game and we came out strong in the first set,” Earling explained.

“Colfax made some adjustments and we couldn’t get our serve receiving going after that.”

The Grizzlies needed to run a faster tempo offense to create more pressure.

“We just weren’t passing well enough to get that going,” said Earling.

“Colfax was a great team and I felt like we were pretty evenly matched. Unfortunately they came out on top this time.”

Gillian Pioske had 16 kills and 13 digs while Whited had six kills.

Hawley finished with nine kills, two aces and nine digs.

Emma Pioske recorded four aces, seven digs and 36 assists.

Hansen finished the night with 18 digs while Krull had 13 digs.

The undefeated back-to-back Southern League champs finished the season 29-10 overall and 14-0 in league.

“Regardless of the outcome of the last game, the girls had a really great season that they and the community should be proud of,” the coach said.

“This team has worked incredibly hard all year.”

MCHS played almost 40 matches, an added tournament against much bigger schools and went undefeated for the second straight season.

“Our overall schedule was much more challenging this season and they really stepped up and embraced it,” Earling said.

“In addition to being a great group of volleyball players, they’re an incredible group of young women that I have loved being around every day.”