Rocklin volleyball reloads after historic season

Rocklin High School girls volleyball spent much of last season proving a public school could compete with California's elite. This season, the Thunder are trying to prove last year's historic run wasn't a one-time thing. Rocklin returned from the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas with a 4-2 record against some of the nation's top programs, then came home Tuesday night and swept Davis in Sierra Foothill League play 26-24, 25-22, 25-10. The result pushed Rocklin to 21-3 on the season, an impressive mark considering how much the Thunder lost from last year's team. A year ago, Rocklin became the first Northern California public school since 2018 to reach the Open Division state championship, where it fell to Mater Dei 3-0. That team featured a large senior class and significant Division I talent. This year's team has looked less like a rebuilding project and more like a reload. "I'm hoping not," Rocklin coach Bret Almazan-Cezar said when asked whether Tuesday's team looked like one that had graduated so much talent. "Our parts have changed a lot, so we've created a system where they can be successful with what they do, and they seem to be owning most of it — not all of it, but we still got time." There is still plenty for the Thunder to clean up. Tuesday's sweep wasn't exactly seamless. Rocklin had to rally in both of the first two sets before pulling away in the third, a pattern Almazan-Cezar said his team has become too comfortable with. "We're trying to get them away from doing that," he said. "They've been doing that an awful lot." For Almazan-Cezar, the goal isn't simply to win when the situation becomes difficult. He wants his players to develop the mentality that they should be able to control those situations in the first place. "Our whole purpose is to act like champions all of the time, and we don't want to be motivated by the scores or who we're playing," he said. "It's just what we are. Champions, acting like champions, and hopefully, if you can act like champions, you'll be a champion sooner or later." That mentality has been tested repeatedly this season. Rocklin traveled to the Bay Area a few weeks ago and beat teams Almazan-Cezar described as No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 in the region. At the Durango tournament, the Thunder came within two points of defeating a Southern California Open Division team, a result Almazan-Cezar said would have been historic for a Northern California public school. Then Rocklin returned home and handled Davis in straight sets and while the stiff competition has the Thunder ready to make another run in the Open Division, it has also exposed areas where the Thunder still need to improve. "When we play smart coaches, we need to be smarter," Almazan-Cezar said. One of those adjustments involves diversifying Rocklin's offense rather than relying so heavily on junior Kaleigh Morasci, who entered Tuesday's match with a team-high 245 kills.. "We're awfully dependent on Kaleigh right now, and we've got to figure out how to move her in different spots and set other people at times," he said. "We'll get there." The Thunder also have another milestone approaching. Almazan-Cezar is five victories away from 1,000 career wins, the vast majority of which came during his tenure at Archbishop Mitty. But the milestone, like Tuesday's sweep and the 21-3 record, isn't necessarily what is driving Rocklin. The Thunder have already seen what is possible. After reaching the Open Division state championship last season, they know the level they eventually want to reach again and being ranked seventh in the state and No. 54 nationally, they have their sights set on a repeat run to the state championship. "They know the possibilities," Almazan-Cezar said. "Always imagine the possibilities. What is it to be the best program imaginable? And we're getting close at times, and other times we totally forget."