San Benito, which was swept by Westmont last year, fell in five
games (25-19, 19-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-17) Thursday night in
Hollister
HOLLISTER
It was exactly the type of match San Benito head coach Luis Espinoza wants his team to experience in the preseason: a close, hard-fought battle with a competitive opponent.
“What you want as a coach, you want to play teams that are competitive,” Espinoza said. “It sets us up for the season as we progress along, and you always want to prep for league.
“But we just didn’t finish.”
Against a team in Westmont that easily swept the Haybalers in three games last year, San Benito managed to battle the visiting Warriors to a fifth game Thursday night at Mattson Gym in Hollister.
But after Westmont’s Rene Rodriguez delivered a kill to tie the fifth set at 15-all, San Benito’s ensuing attempt sailed out of bounds to supply the Warriors with a 16-15 edge. On the following play, Westmont then won the match after a controversial point and completed the five-game victory 19-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 17-15.
Regarding the winning point in question, San Benito’s Luis Bradley delivered a hit at the side of the net that was stuffed by a pair of Westmont blockers. But Espinoza felt the ball bounced back and hit the side pole, which would have awarded the ‘Balers with a point.
Instead, the Warriors recovered and sent the game-winner over the net.
“I knew the ball hit the pole,” he said. “But they were able to pick it up and make the point.”
San Benito received strong performances from Luis Bradley (14 kills, 14 digs), Jakob Rice (10 kills, 3 blocks), Erik Rodriguez (10 kills, 2 blocks, 11 digs) and Adrian Rodriguez (40 assists, 2 blocks) in the match, while Roy Powell added six kills, Brian Hawks contributed two blocks and Danny Ruiz had 12 digs.
San Benito and Westmont went back-and-forth all night, as the ‘Balers won Game 1 and Game 3 and the Warriors took Game 2 and Game 4.
And while it was the fifth game that proved to be the most exciting, San Benito nearly prevented the match from even getting that far after a wild fourth set.
As with the previous three sets, the team that grabbed an early lead was usually able to ride it all the way to 25. And in the fourth set, not only did Westmont hold an early 7-2 lead, but the Warriors took complete control later when they held a 20-10 cushion.
But a kill from Erik Rodriguez made it 20-11, and after a Westmont error, a Rice block made it 20-13. Kills from Bradley, Rice and another by Rodriguez then suddenly had the ‘Balers breathing, while a Bradley/Rice block brought San Benito to within one point – 20-19.
Although Westmont’s Josh Reichert stopped the bleeding with a kill to make it 21-19, the ‘Balers kept pace and eventually found themselves behind 23-22. But a kill by Dennis Tracey gave the Warriors a 24-22 edge, while San Benito’s ensuing attempt went out of bounds, supplying Wesmont with a 25-22 win.
“It showed the character of my boys and how they can handle adversity, and they handled it pretty well,” Espinoza said. “It wasn’t a killer. It was, ‘Hey, now that our backs are to the wall, what can we do?’
“I thought it was awesome.”
Last season, Westmont cruised past San Benito 25-16, 25-17, 25-15.
“Last year,” Espinoza added, “they demoralized us. But I knew my boys could compete against them, and they did.”
The ‘Balers (2-2) will now play at this weekend’s Spring Fling, a 16-team tournament that will include six teams from the Tri-County Athletic League. Hosted by Aptos High, the tournament will begin Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
WEST 19 25 19 25 17
SANB 25 19 25 22 15
