‘Balers find little ways to improve in sweep of Alisal; TCAL
showdown looms at Salinas
Hollister – Playing in the moment, but for the future. That’s what the San Benito girls’ volleyball team has spent much of its Tri-County Athletic League season doing so far.
In another methodical undressing of a league opponent Wednesday night, the ‘Balers (18-4, 4-0 TCAL) powered past visiting Alisal in three games. But all through their 25-10, 25-14, 25-14 romp, and certainly afterwards, the players and their coach were thinking about how the team can raise its level of play for the tougher matches down the road. And one of those is on the horizon, with San Benito set to visit TCAL challenger Salinas on Tuesday.
“Recently, when we’ve been playing not as good teams, we haven’t been playing as good,” sophomore Justine Hunter said, “so we wanted to redeem ourselves playing tonight.”
With a fast start that featured contributions from up and down their lineup, the ‘Balers did just that. First, sophomore middle blocker Megan Halstead hammered down a kill, and then setter Chelsea Fowles found a hole in the Trojans’ defense with a kill of her own. Once Halstead followed with a block kill to put San Benito up 11-5 in the first game, Alisal called timeout to try to regroup. Instead, the
‘Balers just kept coming.
Digs by Emily Korsten led to two more points, outside hitter Morgan O’Laughlin wound up for back-to-back kills, and before the Trojans knew what hit them, San Benito had fired off a 12-0 run to take a commanding 19-5 lead.
The following games were again heavy on the ‘Baler offense, with Fowles spreading the ball around, and Kortsen elevating for kills seemingly at will.
Asked how she and her teammates kept their focus heading into a match they were heavily favored to win, Halstead said, “We don’t look at it that way. We look at every game as our toughest game.”
And with that in mind, the ‘Balers paid attention to the little things, the details that all added up have enabled the team to rampage through the early portion of its league season and have realistic designs on a Central Coast Section championship.
On Wednesday, it was Hunter and Halstead stepping in for injured middle blocker Ali Sharp, working to up the team’s center attack. It was O’Laughlin staying aggressive, finding position on the outside to make Alisal pay with her seven kills. It was freshman libero Samantha Klauer sprinting to the side and diving to come up with a dig to save a point midway through the second game, leaving San Benito coach Dean Askanas shaking his head afterwards. “It was a great, great play on her part,” Askanas said.
And it was Fowles and Korsten. Kortsen and Fowles. Far too many times for the Trojans to keep pace.
Kortsen led the ‘Balers with 16 kills, and junior Bri Romero contributed five kills, as well as strong defense and serving throughout.
Facilitated by Sharp’s absence – and she is expected back next week – the development of Halstead and Hunter bodes well for San Benito. With Askanas noting “My biggest thing this year has been getting better production out of the middle,” the opportunity for the sophomore duo to gain valuable minutes has further accelerated the learning curve, “I was really pleased with the way Justine played,” said Askanas, mentioning Hunter’s five kills and two blocks. “(She) has been very competent out there. … I thought Megan made big improvements.”
Halstead, for her part, said the middle blockers as a unit have been striving to become a valuable weapon as the ‘Balers pursue another undefeated TCAL season. “We have really strong right-sides and outsides,” said Halstead, who had three kills and three blocks. “If we have really strong middles, it would just complete our offense more.” All of these little improvements, individually and collectively, loom as potential deciding factors when the ‘Balers play the heavy hitters, such as Salinas on Tuesday.
“That’s always a big, big match. The biggest league match,” Askanas said, noting that his ‘Balers prevailed in the rivals’ most recent meeting by winning the fifth game 20-18. “(The Cowboys) just destroyed Notre Dame in three games, just stepped on them.”
The ‘Balers’ coach expects the Cowboys to be even more motivated because of sanctions that ban Salinas teams from postseason play. “Their big goal has got to be to take a chunk out of us,” Askanas said.
