‘Baler boys volleyball sweeps Watsonville in three games
Tuesday, will look to even their league record at .500 next week at
Alisal
Hollister
The weight has been lifted.
After completing a rough and tough preseason, where all five of San Benito’s opponents qualified for the Central Coast Section playoffs within the last two years, the ‘Baler boys volleyball team earned their first win of the season Tuesday when they swept Watsonville in three games (25-12, 25-13, 28-26) at Mattson Gym in Hollister.
“It was a big lift off our shoulders to get that first win,” coach Luis Espinoza said. “When you have a losing streak, every game feels like you’re on pins and needles, so it’s a huge lift off our shoulders.”
Erik Rodriguez led the ‘Balers with 11 kills, while David De La Cruz and Daniel Ruiz supplied 17 digs and 10 digs, respectively. Adrian Rodriguez and Javier Castaneda set up their teammates with 15 and 10 assists for San Benito, which improves to 1-2 in the Tri-County Athletic League, 1-9 overall.
“We had a tough preseason schedule,” Espinoza said. “My assistant said to me before we were about to start, we’re one of the best 0-9 teams.”
San Benito’s preseason slate involved matches against Westmont, Willow Glen and Saratoga, each of which qualified for the CCS last season, not to mention Valley Christian and Sacred Heart Prep, which both earned trips to the CCS playoffs in 2006.
On Tuesday, after easily earning the first two games against Watsonville, San Benito started slow in the third game, trailing 0-5 and 1-11 at the start.
“Our setter, Adrian (Rodriguez) was sick, and it kind of hit him in that last game,” said Espinoza, who eventually substituted in Castaneda in the third game. “It was something we were able to pull out.”
The ‘Balers ended up going the distance with Watsonville in the third game and then some, and stole the clincher 28-26 to sweep the Wildcatz.
“You expect your team to do well and when you’re in a spot like that, is your team gonna bend or is it gonna break,” Espinoza said. “We bent a little, but they were able to come back.”
The ‘Balers will now look to start a winning streak and even their TCAL record at .500 next Thursday when they’ll visit Alisal.
In order to accomplish that, however, San Benito will most likely need to stop middle blocker Dagoberto Jimenez, who’s racked up 268 kills already for his Trojan squad and leads the TCAL.
Match time is 6:30 p.m., in Salinas.
