San Benito improves to 2-1 overall with the victory at Wilcox
Monday, a drastic improvement over their 0-9 start just one year
ago
HOLLISTER
After delivering a three-game sweep of Wilcox (25-12, 25-6, 25-16) Monday night in Santa Clara, the San Benito High boys volleyball dropped its first match of the season Tuesday when visiting Willow Glen upended the Haybalers in four games (25-22, 20-25, 20-25, 13-25) at Mattson Gym in Hollister.
But San Benito is now 2-1 overall, which is a drastic improvement over last season’s 0-9 start, when the Haybalers didn’t record their second win of the season until March 27.
“After the Wilcox game, they were on a high,” San Benito head coach Luis Espinoza said.
Behind seven kills apiece from Roy Powell and Brian Hawks, and six kills each from Erik Rodriguez and Jakob Rice, the ‘Balers cruised past Wilcox in three quick games.
And it was rather convincing. While setter Adrian Rodriguez had 11 assists total in the match, teammate Daniel Ruiz delivered 18 assists – all in Game 1.
But San Benito had a quick turnaround from Monday night when they hosted their home opener against Willow Glen on Tuesday.
“Going into that first game against Willow Glen, it looked like business as usual,” Espinoza said. “But then we came back to reality.”
After stealing the first game 25-22, San Benito dropped the next three 25-20, 25-20, 25-13.
Erik Rodriguez led the ‘Balers with eight kills and Rice added seven. Adrian Rodriguez supplied 24 assists, while specialist Ruiz digged out 14 balls.
“I thought it was a good experience for my boys to go through that,” Espinoza said. “Just to see where they measure up against us. They know we have some work to do.”
The ‘Balers will play again Thursday night when Westmont of Campbell visits Hollister. Match time is 6:30 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3
SB 25 25 25
WL 12 6 16
TEAM 1 2 3 4
WG 22 25 25 25
SB 25 20 20 13
