Three days removed from a disappointing loss in the Central
Coast Section Girls Volleyball Championship, the San Benito
Haybalers rebounded in resounding fashion, sweeping through San
Ramon Valley Tuesday night.
Three days removed from a disappointing loss in the Central Coast Section Girls Volleyball Championship, the San Benito Haybalers rebounded in resounding fashion, sweeping through San Ramon Valley Tuesday night.
It was the first round of the CIF Nor-Cal State Volleyball Championships, and the host Lady ‘Balers played with renewed energy to defeat the visiting Wolves in three games (25-14, 25-23, 25-23).
No. 4 San Benito will now have to play at Nevada Union in Grass Valley for Saturday’s semifinal round. Nevada Union, the top-seeded team in Nor-Cal, swept through unseeded Skyline (Oakland) in three games Tuesday (25-10, 25-6, 25-10).
“They’re good every year,” San Benito coach Dean Askanas said. “We’ll have to play really well to beat them.”
Beating the Wolves, though, was the focus on Tuesday at Mattox Gym in Hollister. After Saturday’s loss in the CCS final to Homestead, San Benito felt they had something to prove in Nor-Cals.
“It was important because Saturday didn’t show our real skill at all,” said middle blocker Ali Sharp. “We came out tough and strong and we did it, we finished it in three.”
Askanas routinely says how difficult it is to close out good teams in three games, but San Benito’s offense made sure a sweep would occur.
Emily Kortsen, who signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Utah State immediately following the win, led San Benito with 17 kills. Bri Romero added nine while Sharp and Kelsey Jackson had five and three, respectively.
The coach, though, commented on the play of setter Justine Hunter.
“From finding our hitters to dumping the ball, she played a great game,” Askanas said. “It was truly her best game. It was very encouraging.
“They were a good team, but we just played a very complete game. I was very pleased with how we played tonight.”
San Ramon Valley emerged flat in the first game, and San Benito jumped out to a 7-1 lead as a result and coasted for the remainder of the opener.
Games two and three were far closer, though, but once again, San Benito kept the Danville-based team at bay with a strong and powerful offense.
In the second game, in fact, the Lady ‘Balers held a 21-16 lead. But after three straight points from the Wolves, Jackson provided a block and a kill to stop the streaking San Ramon squad.
“You have to keep swinging hard offensively,” Askanas said. “You can’t start getting cute. We kept hitting hard all the way through. It was a very good offensive performance.”
Kortsen said Tuesday’s triumph was much needed following Saturday’s defeat.
“After Saturday, we just needed to prove to ourselves that that wasn’t us,” she said. “We were really pumped up and we needed to play our best.
“They were solid and they had really hard hitters, but we just took them out of their game.”
San Benito, who defeated Nevada Union in five games in last year’s Nor-Cal semifinal, will play in Grass Valley on Saturday at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the Nor-Cal Final against Amador Valley or Homestead on Nov. 27.
“They were really good last year and I know they graduated hardly anybody,” Kortsen said. “We’ll need to come out really strong.”
