Sports fans who follow volleyball in the Redwood Empire know about the terrific season Petaluma has put together this year. Organizers of the North Coast Section playoffs in Division III know. They placed the upstart T-Girls in the fifth slot to open the highly competitive NCS single-elimination tournament at the end of the season.
In what is slated to be the final season of Petaluma coaching for Ryan Hughes, the T-Girls rushed to an 8-4 record in the Vine Valley Athletic League and a second-place finish.
Not bad in the VVAL’s second season for one of the two smallest public schools in the league.
In addition to defeating crosstown rival Casa Grande three times, the T-Girls also vanquished defending champion Justin-?Siena twice in very exciting matches. Their best win, however, was in the second NCS playoff victory over VVAL champion Sonoma Valley that included a strong closing 25-15 final-set win to silence the crowd in the Dragon gym. The Trojans lost two hard-fought battles to the Dragons in league play.
Hughes has put together an outstanding 73-48 record at PHS, but the travel in the new league has taken its toll. “We travel to American Canyon and Napa four times a season, and that takes a lot of time and expense,” Hughes noted. “I plan to continue helping out the volleyball program at Santa Rosa Junior College again next season.
“This has been one of the best years at Petaluma for me,” noted Hughes. “With eight seniors we are finishing strong in this roller coaster season, and it is a good time to step away.”
Seniors Kaleigh Weiand, Lilah Bacon, Emma Weiand, Juliet Mattox, Lily Paschoal, Alexis Nagy, Abby Delaney and Reilly Williams will also say goodbye to the purple-bordered Trojan floor after this season. Both Weiand sisters, Bacon and Delaney have played T-Girl volleyball since their sophomore season.
It has been a true team effort for the T-Girls, who showed good promise in a pre-league win over a strong Maria Carrillo club in Santa Rosa earlier in the campaign.
As he has done throughout, Hughes makes pointed but brief comments during tense timeouts in the team huddle, but the rest of the emotional leadership he turns over to the T-Girl captains.
By winning their first two NCS playoff games, the Trojans qualified to play in the CIF Nor-Cal Tournament, opening with Lowell High School (25-8) in San Francisco. “I haven’t been able to get any tapes on Lowell, but most of the teams in the city play a very defensive game and keep the ball in play,” explained Hughes.
With the kills and digs of emotional leader Emma Weiand at the ready and the net work of Bacon, Kaleigh Weiand, Mattox, Paschoal and junior Anna Hospodar poised to back her, the Trojans march into unfamiliar territory in recent seasons with a Nor-Cal rumble.
A good bet is that the Trojans (19-6) know what they are getting into. Most of them play travel ball during the off season, and regularly check the Max Preps website to see how other competing girls are measuring up in the playoffs.
“They look up more things than I do,” acknowledged Hughes. “Our girls will be ready.”
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