San Benito takes care of visiting Cowboys, Monterey looms
Hollister
The San Benito boys volleyball team swept past visiting Salinas in three games (25-13, 25-15, 25-21) Tuesday behind 45 assists from Adrian Rodriguez and a combined 36 kills from Brian Hawks, Roy Powell and Elijah Pollard.
The Haybalers improved to 8-5 in the Tri-County Athletic League with just one match remaining. Playing at Monterey on Thursday, the ‘Balers will not only look to wrap up their regular season on a high note, but also present the best case for an at-large bid toward the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The last time Monterey and San Benito faced each other was on April 8. Although Monterey won in three games (25-17, 26-24, 25-23), the ‘Balers never backed down against the first-place Toreadors and played close throughout.
That wasn’t necessarily the case on Tuesday, where San Benito seemingly kept their distance against Salinas to win in three games.
“They had the first two games. We just killed,” coach Luis Espinoza said. Adrian (Rodriguez) was distributing the ball pretty well. Our middles, Roy (Powell) and Jakob (Rice), were doing better.
“They’re playing at a level that I want them to and they’re just doing a great job.”
Hawks (14 kills), Powell (12) and Pollard (10) led San Benito on the attack, while defensively, David De La Cruz and Javier Castaneda provided 27 and 13 digs, respectively.
Salinas falls to 1-11 in the TCAL.
Although the ‘Balers hold a 10-18 overall record, Espinoza is hoping their difficult preseason slate – with matches against Westmont, Valley Christian, Sacred Heart Prep and Willow Glen – will speak for itself.
A win Thursday at Monterey, though, is needed.
“We’ll see what happens,” Espinoza said.
Match time is 6:30 p.m.
