San Benito drops their league opener to Gilroy Tuesday in four
games
Hollister
Gilroy boys volleyball coach Sue Grogan got her team prepared for the Tri-County Athletic League season by having them compete in the unknown.
Fresh off a 3-2 record at the SLO Town Tourney in San Luis Obispo – a record that came against mostly Southern California teams – the Mustangs opened the TCAL season Tuesday against rival San Benito.
But despite San Benito and Gilroy being two different squads from two different towns, Grogan said many of the players competed together on club teams during the offseason, and the SLO Town Tourney, among other things, supplied the Mustangs with a fresh look on the upcoming league season.
“I took them down to San Luis Obispo to give my guys some Southern California volleyball experience,” Grogan said. “They had to think down there, which got them thinking more here instead of being complacent.”
On Tuesday, Gilroy had the edge when they beat the ‘Balers in four games (25-22, 22-25, 26-24, 25-15) at Mattson Gym in Hollister.
Kevin Bruce led the Mustangs with 10 kills, while Greg Calimpong supplied Gilroy with 19 assists, six digs and three aces.
San Benito’s Erik Rodriguez had a match-high 16 kills, Adrian Rodriguez added 25 assists and David De La Cruz had 19 digs.
‘Baler coach Luis Espinoza believes it’s “hit-or-miss right now” for his San Benito squad, which remains in search of its first win.
“It’s all a team effort,” Espinoza said. “You see glimpses of them doing pretty well, and other times not so well … They don’t have that killer instinct yet.”
After Gilroy and San Benito split their first two games with matching 25-22 wins, the match hinged on the all-important third game.
The ‘Balers took an early 4-2 lead behind a kill from Erik Rodriguez, but the Mustangs marched back to grab a 6-4 lead on a Steven Valdez kill. Despite holding a narrow margin throughout the third game, however, Gilroy never relinquished the slim lead.
San Benito did manage to tie the contest at 16-16, and even with Gilroy at game-point with a 24-20 lead, the ‘Balers came right back to tie it at 24.
In the end, however, with Gilroy holding a one-point lead, a miscommunication between San Benito players allowed the ball to drop and gave the Mustangs a 26-24 third-game win.
“We played a lot better compared to the preseason,” Espinoza said. “It’s a team effort. We’re not hitting on all cylinders yet.”
San Benito (0-1 TCAL, 0-4 overall) will play Thursday at Seaside, while Gilroy (1-0 TCAL, 5-3 overall) will host Alisal Thursday.
Said Grogan, “We’ve still got a long ways to go in the TCAL.”
