San Benito volleyball coach Dean Askanas slated a tough
preseason schedule for a reason, but he wasn’t expecting an opening
game loss to the Harbor Pirates.
Hollister – San Benito volleyball coach Dean Askanas slated a tough preseason schedule for a reason, but he wasn’t expecting an opening game loss to the Harbor Pirates.
Despite playing in front of their home crowd at Mattson Gym on Thursday night, the Lady ‘Balers fell in five games to the Pirates 25-22, 15-25, 25-15, 19-25, 14-16.
“I told them we scheduled tough and we’ll take some lumps,” Askanas said, “but I wasn’t expecting to lose this match. It’s not like they walked over us, but we have a lot of work to do.”
Senior outside hitter Bri Romero had 13 kills and 15 digs on the night to lead the Lady ‘Balers, while senior opposite Emily Kortsen supplied a team-high 18 kills.
But when asked how he thought his Lady ‘Balers played in their first game of the season, Askanas responded, “iffy.”
“Bri played really well, but our right side, Justine (Hunter) and Emily (Kortsen), their defense was not up to par,” the coach said. “(Harbor) would do a right side attack and we did not play good defense on them.”
In the first game, the two teams went back and forth early, but San Benito worked itself out to a 16-10 lead, forcing the Pirates to call a timeout.
The stoppage put an end to San Benito’s streaking lead, and despite a kill by Romero, the two teams were knotted at 19 a piece. Holding a one-point lead at 22-21, the Lady ‘Balers got a timely kill from Warda Alam and a service ace from Justine Hunter to take the 25-22 win.
But in game two, San Benito hit what Askanas later described as a “lull.” Harbor jumped out to an 11-1 lead, only until San Benito cut it to 12-8 after a pair of service aces from Ali Sharp and a kill by Kortsen. But four points was as close as the home team would get, and Harbor took the second game 25-15.
“You win a tough game and then you go down 10-1,” Askanas said. “That’s a team that’s not mature. They think it’s over. They think they got them … The match isn’t over. It’s the best of five.”
In game three, San Benito reversed the score on Harbor, winning 25-15. At one point, the Lady ‘Balers held a 17-15 lead, but strong serving from Romero put the locals further ahead as they scored eight straight points for the win.
In game four, however, San Benito reverted to the “lull.” Harbor jumped out to a 9-1 lead, and coasted to an easy 25-19 win to bring the match to the deciding fifth game.
In the final stanza, both teams went back and forth for much of the game, as neither team had a lead greater than two points. However, Harbor finished the match on a kill and a block for the 16-14 win.
Askanas tipped his cap to Harbor saying their defense played great, especially when it came time to digging a hit from Kortsen, while his second middle blocker, Megan Halstead, had “a lot of good plays and a lot of good blocks.”
The Lady ‘Balers (0-1) will look to rebound this weekend at the Milpitas Spikefest tournament, with morning games in Milpitas and afternoon games at Independence.
