Lady Generals' season ends with semifinal loss

The Shafter High Lady Generals volleyball team advanced to the semifinals in the Central Section Division IV playoffs last week, but they lost their seminal match with the third-seeded Immanuel from Reedley in three straight sets.

Shafter, seeded number two in the playoffs, had little trouble in the first round, dispatching Hanford West in three straight games. Led by the hitting of Sydnee Macias and Rylyn Hanner, the team was aggressive from the beginning and never let up.

In the quarterfinal against Washington Union, the Lady Generals won the first game in a tight contest, but dropped just the second game in the last two months, tying the match at one set apiece.

Thanks to the serving of Emily Pugh and Annemarie Puiser, as well as the blocking of Hanner and Kyla Schooley, the Lady Generals grinded out the third game 25-23, taking a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth set, Shafter was never in serious danger in the set, losing the lead only once in the game.

For the match, Macias had 13 kills, with Schooley getting 11. They were also tough on defense as well, with Macy Ulloa having 17 digs on the night, with Puiser having 16 for the match.

But, in the semifinal, the Lady Generals never got on track, giving the Eagles a number of free points in each set on passing errors, as well as having trouble returning the Immanuel players' serves.

In the first set, it was tight until halfway through the set, with Immanuel getting four aces in the set, widening their lead to 21-13. The Eagles closed out the set at 25-16. The Lady Generals couldn't get a significant lead in either of the other two sets, making too many errors on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

Even with the loss, the season was another outstanding one for a program that was in the cellar of the SSL just a few years ago. Under the leadership of Coach Sabrina Macias and her staff, they created a program that the players bought into and have flourished, making the playoffs the past three years, including a championship game appearance last year. With several players returning next season, this is probably not the end of the success for this program.