San Benito middle blocker Emily Tonascia couldn’t help but
notice the difference in her team’s play during Tuesday night’s
home opener against Harbor High. Just three days removed from
Spikefest I in San Jose, where the Lady Balers played some of the
best competition in Division I and posted a 3-2 record, San Benito
returned to Mattson Gym in front of a home crowd.
And that may have just been the difference.
HOLLISTER
San Benito middle blocker Emily Tonascia couldn’t help but notice the difference in her team’s play during Tuesday night’s home opener against Harbor High. Just three days removed from Spikefest I in San Jose, where the Lady Balers played some of the best competition in Division I and posted a 3-2 record, San Benito returned to Mattson Gym in front of a home crowd.
And that may have just been the difference.
“I think tonight, the whole mentality was different,” said Tonascia, who led the Lady Balers with eight kills Tuesday en route to an easy three-game sweep (25-11, 25-12, 25-17) of visiting Harbor.
Noticing the benefits of a single home match – the crowd, the energy and the simple finality of it – Tonascia feels the Lady Balers now just need to take that home mentality on the road.
“It was a home game and you don’t want to be embarrassed,” she said. “You’re always out there to win, but the consequences are different (at home).
“We have to keep that mentality the same because it’s such a mind game.”
A true road test will come Thursday night when San Benito visits Homestead, which compiled a 27-8 record last season on its way to the Central Coast Section Division I title.
The Mustangs are said to have lost a lot to graduation, however, and the same can be said for Harbor High, which advanced to the Division IV title match last season before falling to Menlo in the championship.
A year removed from a 30-win season, though, the Pirates couldn’t keep pace with San Benito on Tuesday night. After the Lady Balers cruised to a comfortable 25-11 win in Game 1, which saw the home team open its lead behind kills from Tonascia, Denisia Dikes and the serving of Sam Klauer, Harbor managed to grab an early 3-1 lead in the second game.
The lead was short lived, however, as the Lady Balers knotted the game at 3-all before opening up an 8-3 cushion behind an ace from Alisha Cornick – she had three on the night to go along with 18 assists – as well as kills from Kelsey Asp, Tonascia and Dikes.
Head coach Dean Askanas said the biggest surprise to date has been the play of the senior opposite Dikes, who contributed five kills, three assists and two digs on Tuesday night.
“She went from barely playing to barely coming off the court,” said Askanas, who feels the team is moving in the right direction after just six matches.
Harbor played close in Game 3, tying it at 7-all and 9-all before Jessica Meade went behind the service line. The senior opposite provided a pair of aces, while the Lady Balers posted eight straight points to open a 17-9 lead en route to the three-game sweep.
San Benito had 10 aces in the match, in fact, with Klauer leading the way with a team-high five.
The victory follows the team’s “successful” weekend, Askanas said, where the Lady Balers went 3-2 at Spikefest I with wins over Cupertino (25-11, 25-14), Mount Pleasant (25-10, 25-19) and Gunn (26-24, 20-25, 15-13).
“We ended up facing a lot of our competition in Division I and we got to see what they’re all about,” said Askanas, whose squad beat a top D-I team in Gunn, but narrowly lost to another top opponent, Menlo-Atherton (24-26, 20-25).
“I like the way we’re moving,” Askanas added. “I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
Tonascia felt the teams San Benito lost to at Spikefest were “beatable,” and the recent position change will only make the Lady Balers stronger.
Following an early-tournament loss to Saratoga (19-25, 19-25), Askanas moved Sara Yamasaki out of the setter position and back to defensive specialist, where she led the team in digs last season.
On Tuesday, Yamasaki and Klauer each had a team-high 11 digs, while Mari Vallejo added eight.
“After that first game (against Saratoga),” Tonascia said, “Yamasaki went back and it’s helped out a lot.”
Initially, Askanas was trying a two-setter lineup with Yamasaki and Cornick, but the void on defense was too great.
“It’s made a big improvement to have her back on defense,” Askanas said. “Now we have a better balance of offense and defense.
“We made the change over the weekend and it’s been dynamite.”
San Benito will visit Homestead Thursday at 6 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 F
HRB 11 12 17 0
SAN 25 25 25 3
