Rocklin opens season as No. 1 team in NorCal

There is a new man in charge of the Rocklin High School girls volleyball program. Longtime head coach Dave Muscarella retired at the end of last season after coaching the Thunder to nine Sierra Foothill League titles and three Sac-Joaquin Section championships. Now stepping in is one of the most decorated volleyball coaches in CIF history, Bert Almazan-Cezar. During his tenure at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Almazan-Cezar was the national coach of the year, seven-time national champion and 11-time state champion. He coached at Granite Bay in 2021, leading the Grizzlies to the D-II section championship. With Almazan-Cezar taking over a Rocklin team that graduated just one player from last year's D-II NorCal runner-up squad, it is no question the Thunder have lofty goals for this season. Rocklin opens the season as the No.1-ranked team in NorCal and No. 7 team in the state on The List, the CIF's weekly girls volleyball rankings. Almazan-Cezar knows this is one of the top teams in the state, but he says the biggest goal is to make sure the girls improve every day. "I've been a fan of Dave Muscarella for 20 years. I know a lot of these kids have been around this program and we're just trying to make them better," Almazan-Cezar said. "The biggest goal is to get better every day. That's all I'm ever thinking about. How do we get better for tomorrow?" Almazan-Cezar says he knows Rocklin has a high ranking and is expected to be in the mix for a state championship, but he never buys too much into the rankings or hype because the team still has to take care of business on the court. "I'm coming from a place that's very much into the rankings. The girls realize that the ranking is just a product of what they do every day in the gym," Almazan-Cezar said. "They're here to win points, win matches, and if people want to rank them number one, so be it. If they want to rank us number 50, so be it. We're just here to win." Rocklin proved that point Tuesday night, beating a strong Placer team 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-10) to improve to 2-0. Junior Gianna Bogan had nine kills while junior Bianca Slone added five. The Thunder served well with 13 aces, including three by freshman Sophie Burns. Almazan-Cezar was pleased with what he saw and noted Rocklin's defense set up its offense. "In transition, we were able to set up multiple hitters, which was good to see," Almazan-Cezar said. "Right now, our block is intimidating enough that we're getting good balls and we can settle in and run stuff out of our defense." The Thunder was scheduled to host Woodcreek on Thursday and plays in a tournament this weekend in Reno. Rocklin begins SFL play Sept. 9 against St. Francis. Asked what he wants to see from his team for the remainder of nonleague, Almazan-Cezar said, "We're just trying to figure out how to learn our new stuff. I'm really new to them, and they're new to me, so we're just trying to learn the system and put it all together."