NOTES AND QUOTES for a Wednesday in the Napa Valley:

Mike Gibson is listed third on the depth chart at right guard for Philadelphia, but he will start Thursday’s NFL preseason game against the New York Jets, as the Eagles will rest the starters on their offensive line. It’s the final game of the exhibition season for the Eagles.

Gibson is a Napa High School graduate who also played football at Solano Community College and UC Berkeley. He’s a second-year player for the Eagles.

NFL teams are required to cut their rosters down to a maximum of 53 players on Sept. 5.

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The Connecticut Defenders clinched their first playoff spot since 2002 and their first as an affiliate of San Francisco Giants organization last week.

Matt Yourkin, a left-hander, is the Defenders’ closer. The Napa High graduate is 6-2 with a 2.48 earned run average and seven saves. In 61 2/3 innings, he has 72 strikeouts and 26 walks.

Connecticut plays in the Double-A Eastern League.

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Former Justin-Siena star Justin Clayton is listed as a freshman defensive end for the Washington State football team, which begins its 2009 season Saturday against Stanford at Martin Stadium in Spokane, Wash., at 3 p.m. It will be the Pac-10 Conference opener for both schools.

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Two Napa High graduates, linebacker Michael Ruffino and defensive lineman David Smith, are listed on the University of San Diego football roster.

The Toreros open the season Saturday at Azusa Pacific University.

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Lewis & Clark College of Portland, Ore., will look to Max Wagenknecht of Napa to make an immediate impact on the offensive line.

“Max is a big and strong offensive lineman who will be competing for a starting job,” Pioneers head football coach Chris Sulages said on the school’s athletic web site.

Wagenknecht went to Napa High. Defensive lineman Justin Ruffino, another former Napa High player, is also on the team.

The Pioneers’ season opener is Sept. 12 against Claremont Mudd-Scripps.

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On the strength of a sweep of last weekend’s Seawolf Spike Tournament, the Sonoma State volleyball team moved up to 24th in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll.

The ranking is just the second in the last 19 years for Sonoma State, which is led by Lindsay Brown, a senior setter and team captain from Napa.

They are one of four California Collegiate Athletic Association teams in the top 25, joining Cal State San Bernardino (No. 2), UC San Diego (No. 7) and Cal State Los Angeles (No. 21). Concordia University of Minnesota is ranked No. 1.

The Seawolves will put their unbeaten streak on the line in Ellensburg, Wash.

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Ex-Justin Siena and Arizona State slugger Brett Wallace hit a game-winning single, a hard shot to right field, in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Sacramento River Cats a 5-4 Pacific Coast League victory over the Fresno Grizzlies on Sunday.

The River Cats finish the PCL regular season with an eight-game road trip.

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Loren Roberts has been one of the hottest players on the Champions Tour of late with two wins, a tie for fourth and a tie for fifth in his last four outings.  He’s second in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, just 86 points behind leader Fred Funk.

This week, the Champions Tour moves to the Monterey Peninsula, site of the Wal-Mart First Tee Open.

It will be played at the Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course.

The Tour’s season-ending event is the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Oct. 26-Nov. 1, at the Sonoma Golf Club.

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Oakland’s Adam Henry (tight ends) and Kelly Skipper (running backs) and San Francisco’s Johnnie Lynn (defensive backs) are 2009 coach graduates of the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship.

Ninety minority coaches took part in this summer’s fellowship program.

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