San Benito fell behind 0-5 against visiting North Salinas
Tuesday before someone turned on the lights.
When the light flashed on in the gym, the Balers became
energized after the slow start and went on to win 25-14, 25-9,
25-12. The Balers were without power hitter Melissa Moore, who
missed school with the flu.
San Benito fell behind 0-5 against visiting North Salinas Tuesday before someone turned on the lights.
When the light flashed on in the gym, the Balers became energized after the slow start and went on to win 25-14, 25-9, 25-12. The Balers were without power hitter Melissa Moore, who missed school with the flu.
Coach Chuck Schallhorn also missed several days from teaching his government and psychology classes with the flu, but plans to return today. Fortunately for the Balers, the administration did not make him sit out for the game as well.
“Whenever you are missing a player, you always have to make some adjustments,” Schallhorn said. “We made some mistakes as a result of the adjustments.”
The Balers were down as much as 8-2 before they started to make their moves.
“They made some mistakes, and we had some good plays,” said North Salinas coach Bill Ashen about his team’s early start. “We can’t make any mistake because we already have to play a spit-and-glue game to try to manufacture points.”
Kathleen McCullough picked up a couple key blocks in that first game for the Balers. And Mallorie Wilson, who had five solo blocks in the game also contributed in the win with her timely stuffs.
“When she is on she is tough to get by especially when they go with the middle attack,” Schallhorn said about his 6-foot-1 middle.
Leslie Schipper led the Balers in kills with six, and Alyssa Fowles added six.
With the Vikings ahead 10-6, Michele Sanchez served the Balers into an 11-10 lead with six straight points. After North Salinas took a one-point lead, McCullough tied the game with a kill and then served up three straight points for a 15-11 advantage.
The Balers took a 18-12 lead and forced the Vikings to call a timeout, but it was to no avail as the Balers won handily.
San Benito took an early lead in the second game and was able to cruise to the win. It was a little tougher in the third round. The Balers weren’t able to pull away until after both teams scored 10 points.
“We just don’t have the strong volleyball program that they have here,” said Ashen, a 10-year coach at North Salinas. “This is basically the JV team which did so well. They have a great program here that feeds itself. They have well-schooled athletes.”
With the win, San Benito (12-11, 2-1 TCAL) moved over the .500 mark and closer to a playoff spot.
After losing the league opener at Live Oak, San Benito has rebounded nicely with a pair of wins. But in order to have a chance at the league title, the Balers will have to defeat Notre Dame, Live Oak and Salinas, who they face on Thursday in Salinas.
“It will be a huge task to catch a team like Notre Dame with all the press they get,” Schallhorn said. “We just have to play our brand of volleyball.”
The Balers were coming off of a strong showing at the Menlo-Atherton Midway Classic Saturday. The Balers’ two losses were to the eventual champion (Saratoga) and to the runner-up (Menlo-Atherton).
In pool play, San Benito defeated Westmont 26-27, 25-12, 15-13 and Pinewood. The Balers (11-11) beat Soquel 25-18, 25-23 in Gold Bracket play before falling to Menlo-Atherton.
Setter McCullough, who had 38 assists, was tabbed honorable mention All-Tournament for the Balers.
“I used a number of different lineups to get all the players ready for the rest of league and to keep everyone of my players ready to play,” Schallhorn said. “I have confidence in every one of my players at this point in the season. I have two solid lineups to use against two different kinds of teams. At this point, it has everything to do with how well each player accepts her role on the team. We played the best volleyball we’ve played all season.”
Schipper had 33 kills for the Balers, while Moore had 23 kills. Fowles had 20 kills, with Wilson contributing 11 kills and five blocks. Amy Baxter had eight aces, while sophomore Ashley Patton had five aces.
