San Benito Advances to CCS Championship Game
Santa Clara – Nothing’s easy, even for a No. 1 seeded team.
The San Benito girls volleyball team wasn’t at its best in the Central Coast Section semifinals Thursday at Santa Clara High School but still found a way to pull out the victory in five games against No. 4 Homestead (25-13).
The Haybalers defeated Homestead 25-14, 22-25, 25-9, 21-25, 15-13 to advance to the championship game.
San Benito (35-4) will face Carlmont, who beat Salinas in three games, Saturday at 8pm at West Valley College.
“We didn’t play to our ability,” said San Benito coach Dean Askanas. “We let the emotion of the game get in the way. We played just well enough to win. We bit the bullet tonight.”
It was a game where both teams came out tentative at times with the emotions of the big game.
“We were really pumped up,” said San Benito outside hitter Stacy Mead. “We got a little tense in the last game. We tried to play it safe and weren’t really able to unleash.”
San Benito started the swing in their favor in the first game by scoring the game’s first five points and went on to win the first game easily.
But Homestead rallied back, winning games two and four. Sandwhiched between those two was another easy victory for San Benito.
“Both teams were determined not to let the ball hit the floor,” said Homestead coach John Milkovich. “It was a nice effort on both sides. They played well under pressure. It is the kind of match that is fun to play and to watch.”
San Benito’s blocking came up big several times at the net especially early in the match. One of the players who seemed to be involved with almost every block was sophomore Ali Sharp.
“I was just trying to hit the crease,” Sharp said. “We stayed close and didn’t give up. Somehow, it always seems like we can pull it off in the end.”
In the final game, San Benito and Homestead matched each other point for point. When the Mustangs took the lead, San Benito answered back with a big play.
San Benito setter Chelsea Fowles left at the start of the second game to get her ankle wrapped, giving Justine Hunter a chance to get a couple points in before Fowles came back.
“I wasn’t going to miss it,” Fowles said. “We did a good job in pursuit of the broken plays. I had to work hard to get the ball to our big hitters. Whenever we needed a quick point, Emily Kortsen was the one I looked for.”
Kortsen came up big down the stretch with three kills in the final four plays of the game.
Despite battling a nagging injury, middle blocker Morgan O’Laughlin was also able to contribute with kills and tips down the stretch to help in the Haybalers’ victory.
Because Carlmont, the No. 3 seed, can be streaky at times, coach Askanas said he hopes to have a good practice today to get ready.
“They’re a team that can do anything,” Askanas said. “They play great at times, and at times play erratic. Kind of like us.”
