Baler roundup
San Jose – The San Benito boys water polo team struggled in the Palo Alto tournament last weekend finishing with a 1-3 record.
San Benito opened the tournament on Friday with a 14-3 loss against league rival Live Oak.
The Balers (9-9, 3-0 TCAL) were down 5-2 at the half before Live Oak came back strong in the second half. Ryan Gautschi had half of the Acorns’ goals.
Lucas Zepeda, Dave Smith and Joel Smith scored the goals for the Balers.
“I was pleased we were able to keep them to 5-2 at half,” said Baler coach Tom Agan. “That probably is the best polo we have played this year. We just weren’t able to sustain it.”
In the second game Friday, Hollister lost 11-9 to Serra. The score was tied with 2:43 left before Serra scored a pair of goals.
Zepeda led the way with three goals. Rory Bloch had two and Zach Bainter, Dave Smith, Joel Smith, Blane Curtice scored goals.
On Saturday, Hollister defeated Woodside 11-6 behind six goals from Zepeda. Dave Smith had three, and Bainter and Joel Smith had one goal.
In the final game against Los Gatos, San Benito lost 15-14 with a shot in the final seconds. The Haybalers were up 9-3 at the half and was up by three goals goins into the fourth quarter.
Bainter had five and Zepeda had five goals each, Dave Smith had two and Logan Kratzer and Joel Smith had one.
“We’re definitely improving, and we’re making progress,” Agan said. “It seems we have difficulty finishing. We’re getting there. We just need to put whole thing together and play the whole game.”
Girls golf
Hollister – San Benito defeated visiting Monte Vista Christian 212-234 on Monday on the Diablo Course front nine par 36 at Ridgemark.
Corryn Pacheco shot an overall low of 48. Ashly Cullumber shot a 54, Marissa Gutierrez shot a 55, Megan Smith shot a 55. The non-counting scores were Katie O’Brien with a 65 and Erica Bardo with a 68.
San Benito hosts four other TCAL teams today on the Gabilan Course at 3:30pm.
Frosh volleyball
The San Benito freshmen volleyball team finished with a 2-2 record at the North Salinas tournament.
San Benito defeated Alisal 25-11, 25-16 and Alvarez 25-15, 25-8. But the team lost to Castilleja, out of Palo Alto, 15-25, 19-25 and then lost a tough match in the single elimation bracket play to Milpitas 25-10, 28-30, 7-15.
The kill leaders were Kelsey Jackson (17), Hailey Kemp (15) and Elizabeth Schlic (12). Audra Boyd had 15 aces, Carly Lerma had 11 aces and Amy Dynneson had eight aces.
Both setters Ashlyn Gonzales and Carly Lerma had good all-around play. Passing and defense were led by Lizzy Gato, Elena Fata and Shireen Zamani.
