After falling in three sets to North Salinas on Tuesday, the San
Benito girls volleyball team nearly stole a five-set match from
host Salinas Thursday night, but the Balers fell short in the fifth
and deciding set, 16-14.
SALINAS
After falling in three sets to North Salinas on Tuesday, the San Benito girls volleyball team nearly stole a five-set match from host Salinas Thursday night, but the Balers fell short in the fifth and deciding set, 16-14.
San Benito was leading 14-12 at one point in the fifth set.
“They played a good game against North Salinas and they played a good game tonight,” San Benito head coach Dean Askanas said. “We’re definitely improving.
“But I’m upset we didn’t pull the trigger and terminate. When you play against a big-hitting team, you cannot play a game of attrition … You have to force the issue.”
San Benito dropped the first set 27-25 before taking the next two sets, 31-29 and 25-18. The Cowboys battled back to force a fifth set, though, when they edged the Balers 25-22 in the fourth.
Askanas said Salinas’ Alex Barbeau pushed the Cowboys over the top, and helped Salinas score the final four points to swipe the fifth set from San Benito’s grasp.
San Benito falls to 0-2 in the Tri-County Athletic League, 6-8 overall.
“I’m very upset. The team is very upset,” Askanas said. “The defense again was great. Everyone chipped in to get us to that fifth game, but we just didn’t do enough.
“It’s a learning thing. There’s a learning curve.”
Statistics and game scores, with the exception of the fifth game, were not provided at press time.
San Benito has a bye next Tuesday from TCAL play, but will square off against Menlo in non-conference action in Hollister. Match time is 5:45 p.m.
“Hopefully, we come back hungrier and hungrier, and we want to terminate more,” Askanas said. “Tomorrow we have to come in and cool our engines and work on improving.”
