Roundup: Polo teams open season at respective tournaments; girls
tennis splits first two matches
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.
Roundup: Polo teams open season at respective tournaments; girls tennis splits first two matches
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.”
San Benito received a true road test on Thursday night when it visited Homestead, which compiled a 27-8 record last season on its way to the Central Coast Section Division I title. That match took place after The Weekend Pinnacle’s press time.
SBHS GIRLS TENNIS
The San Benito High girls tennis team lost its first match of the season on Tuesday when it fell 5-2 to visiting Carmel at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club.
The loss puts San Benito at 1-1 on the season.
Last Friday, the Lady Balers won its opener by defeating Watsonville on the road, 5-2.
SBHS GIRLS POLO
The San Benito High girls water polo team compiled a 2-3 record at the 32-team Central Coast Showdown at Clovis West last weekend, where the team’s three losses were decided by a total of four goals.
SBHS BOYS POLO
The San Benito High boys water polo team compiled a 1-2 record at the Monterey Bay Invitational last weekend in Hollister, where it lost to Leland (17-7) and Carmel (17-6) before picking up its only victory against San Lorenzo Valley (18-5).
