Central Valley’s sixth-place boys volleyball team exacted revenge versus Pacheco and showed improvement against Beyer in Western Athletic Conference play last week.

Fourth-place Ceres High earned a season sweep of Johansen and lost in straight sets to Lathrop for the second time.

“The kids are getting better,” Hawks’ head coach Julio Madrigal said. “They’re earning respect. They’ve been working hard. They’re starting to figure things out. Unfortunately, the season is coming to an end.”

Central Valley topped eighth-place Pacheco 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 25-16, 25-14) on April 14 in Ceres.

The Hawks blew a two-sets-to-none lead in losing 3-2 (21-25, 26-28, 25-21, 25-22, 15-6) to the Panthers during the first meeting.

“It was revenge,” Madrigal said.

“We made some adjustments with our lineup,” he added. “That helped. We weren’t predictable.”

Hawk players also fed off the energy of their large crowd.

More than a dozen Central Valley staff members attended the game.

“That meant a lot to the players,” Madrigal said. 

Central Valley’s Garrett Akiona filled the stat sheet with 22 assists, 10 blocks, five digs, two kills and one ace versus Beyer.

Zachary Silva had 20 blocks and seven kills.

Elias Espinoza had 20 blocks, four kills, one ace and one dig.

Nicolas Garcia had 10 blocks, eight kills, five aces and one dig.

The Hawks (4-18, 3-10) snapped a seven-game losing streak in beating the Panthers (2-17, 1-10).

“We won in dominant fashion,” Madrigal said. 

Central Valley put up a fight in losing 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-20) to second-place Beyer on April 16 in Modesto.

The Patriots also won the first meeting, 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-6). But the match wasn’t as competitive compared to last week’s clash.

“We refocused,” Madrigal said. “We weren’t the same team. We played way better. We could have won the second and third sets. We had leads.”

Hawk Diego Mendoza Camparan totaled 15 blocks, one kill and one dig against the Patriots (19-7, 11-2).

Akiona had 11 assists, eight digs, seven blocks, two kills and two aces.

Espinoza had eight blocks and one dig.

Silva had six blocks and two kills.

“They believed they could win this time,” Madrigal said. “They were competitive.” 

Central Valley will continue to strive for improvement in all areas.

“It starts with me,” Madrigal said. “Coaching is done at practice. You make adjustments during games. You have to have a short-term memory in volleyball. It’s one point every play.”

Ceres High shut out Johansen 3-0 on April 14 in Modesto.

The Bulldogs (10-9, 7-6) also won the first meeting in straight sets against the seventh-place Vikings (1-10).

Ceres High lost 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 26-24) to Lathrop on April 16 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

The Bulldogs challenged the third-place Spartans (23-8, 20-3) during the third set.