Granite Bay girls' volleyball section title honored on Crystal milk cartons

Granite Bay High girls' volleyball team finished third in the Sierra Foothill League (SFL) at 5-5 but went on a run in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs, winning their first section title since 2013. The Lady Grizzlies season continues to give as the champions are being honored on the side of commemorative Crystal Creamery milk cartons. Crystal Creamery has honored more than 325 section winning teams since 2012 and the Grizzlies join Oak Ridge, Lincoln, Escalon, Ripon Christian and Big Valley Christian high schools as the 2021 section champions. "The SFL does an incredible job of preparing teams for the playoffs and once we got out of league, it was always about preparing for the next match," Grizzlies coach Bret Almazan-Cesar said. Granite Bay only lost one set in section playoffs and beat out Bella Vista, Vista Del Lago, Whitney and Tracy to win their second banner. Crystal Creamery recognizes two high school sports in the fall, winter and spring seasons to spread out the recognition to as many teams and sports as possible. The company also honors scholar athletes each spring who are recipients of the Sac-Joaquin Section's Dale Lacky and Clark Coover Scholarship awards. "It's always nice to have big wins but it feels even better to be acknowledged by a company with a big influence in the area," senior Mackenzie Wells said. "It makes it bittersweet moving on, knowing I was a part of something that will be remembered for years to come." The Grizzlies finished the 2021 season with a 24-17 record and made it all the way to the second round of the California Interscholastic Federation State Volleyball Championships before losing in five sets to Clovis. They defeated Woodcreek in the first round. "I'm always thinking 'remember and learn from the past, live in the present, and look to the future and hopefully they'll remember you,"Almazan-Cesar said. "I pray that future teams can look to the '21 team and imagine and believe in their own possibilities."