NOTES AND QUOTES for a Friday in the Napa Valley:

Zach Dollar may have stopped playing football, but he’s still involved in the game.

Dollar, a Justin-Siena High School graduate who played for the Braves and Colgate University, was recently awarded a six-month academic internship with the NFL’s New England Patriots in marketing and events.

He makes his home in Boston and is pursuing a master’s degree in sports management at the University of New Hampshire.

Dollar was a three-time All-Napa County player for Justin-Siena and was the team’s defensive MVP as a junior and senior. He started all 12 games at outside linebacker his senior year for Colgate and finished third on the team in total tackles with 65.

He played in 23 games during his college career and earned three letters.

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The Thursday game notes for the Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League said it all: Brett “the hit man” Wallace.

The newly acquired infielder, a former Justin-Siena and Arizona State star, has been “unstoppable” since showing up in Sacramento, the River Cats said.

Wallace went 3-for-6, hitting two home runs, a double, driving in five runs and scoring three times in Sacramento’s 11-1 win over Nashville Wednesday. He had a two-run homer in the fifth inning. His performance tied a team-high stat for most extra-base hits in a game (3).

Wallace’s two homers were his 12th and 13th of the season, and his fourth and fifth in the last four games.

He has 22 runs, six doubles, seven homers and 18 RBIs in his 25 games as a River Cat.

The River Cats are the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.

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Brianna Stade, a former Napa High spiritleader captain who will attend Hawaii Pacific University in the fall on a full-ride competition dance team scholarship, attended the three-day National Dance Alliance camp in Las Vegas last month. Seven other college teams competed during the last day of camp.

Stade helped Hawaii Pacific to a third-place finish. The Sea Warriors, who have won five national titles since 2004, also received a gold scholarship to the NDA college nationals in Florida in April of 2010.

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New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi was a guest at the Oakland Raiders training camp earlier this week. With his team in the Bay Area to play the Oakland Athletics, Girardi made the trip to Napa for the Raiders’ joint practices against the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday.

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Speaking of the Niners, head coach Mike Singletary wasn’t on the team bus when San Francisco made the short drive from its team hotel at Embassy Suites to the Napa Valley Marriott for joint practices with the Oakland Raiders on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Singletary and a couple of team employees walked to and from practice both days.

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A team representing HealthQuest of Napa did very well in the WABDL (World Association of Bench Pressers & Deadlifters) West Coast Bench Press and Deadlift Championships in Sacramento last weekend.

Mike Bonifield, the team’s coach, took a first place in the bench press (341.5 pounds); Dr. Bob Urrea won in the bench press (319.5), setting a state record; Lee Joiner (192.5) and Mike Basayne (319.5) won bench press titles; and Shawn Tisdale took a second place in the bench press (204.5) and a second place in the deadlift (325).

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The Cal State Sacramento women’s cross country team, which includes Lea Wallace of Napa, was picked to finish third in the preseason Big Sky Conference coaches poll.

Wallace, a former Vintage High star, was 40th in last year’s Big Sky Championships. Sacramento recorded its highest finish in school history by placing second at the conference meet.

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Junior setter Nicki Brown had 31 assists as the Cal State Stanislaus volleyball team beat Holy Names, 3-1, Monday in an exhibition match at Warrior Arena in Turlock.

Brown went to Napa High.

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Connecticut closer Matt Yourkin, a left-hander, earned his fourth save of the season as the Defenders beat New Hampshire, 5-3, in a Double-A Eastern League game in Manchester, N.H., Wednesday.

Yourkin, a Napa High graduate, struck out the side in the ninth inning.

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Karen Yoder has a new assistant coach at UC Davis: Alicia Hollowell, a former member of the USA Softball National Team who played a key role in leading Arizona to the 2006 national championship and ranks as one of the top pitchers in NCAA softball history.

“I am elated that Alicia will be joining our staff here at UC Davis,” Yoder, a Napa resident, said on the Aggies’ athletic Web site. “She was a tremendous competitor who earned the highest accolades in our sport. She will bring a wealth of experience and enrich our program in a multitude of ways.”

In 2007, Hollowell was a gold medalist at the Pan American Games as well as a World Cup Champion for the second straight year. She was also an Elite Team member for two years.

She was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2006 Women’s College World Series after setting NCAA records with six complete-games and 64 strikeouts at the WCWS.

At Arizona, Hollowell was twice named First-Team All-America and garnered two additional Second-Team All-America nods.

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.