San Benito High volleyball coach Chuck Schallhorn labeled the
way his club played at the Westmont-Saratoga Tournament on
Saturday
”
like being sick.
”
Missing two of his three primary passers, Schallhorn’s Balers
went 1-3 in the tournament to place ninth. The Balers lost a
hard-fought match to Valley Christian 25-14, 26-27, 12-15, but
rebounded with a 25-20, 25-21 defeat of San Mateo to go 1-1 in pool
play.
San Benito High volleyball coach Chuck Schallhorn labeled the way his club played at the Westmont-Saratoga Tournament on Saturday “like being sick.”
Missing two of his three primary passers, Schallhorn’s Balers went 1-3 in the tournament to place ninth. The Balers lost a hard-fought match to Valley Christian 25-14, 26-27, 12-15, but rebounded with a 25-20, 25-21 defeat of San Mateo to go 1-1 in pool play.
Seeded sixth in the gold bracket of bracket play, San Benito clashed once again with Valley Christian, losing 20-25, 27-26, 6-15. The red flag came in a 21-25, 19-25 to Salinas, a team the Balers have handled in league play the past four years.
“Valley Christian had excellent servers, who served tough and hit their spots,” Schallhorn said. “Without two of our primary passers, we had to have a brand new lineup with no practice time. Everyone on the team was getting frustrated.”
Schallhorn claimed his club was spent before it met up with Salinas at the end of the day.
“It was the heat and fatigue,” said Schallhorn. “We were out of the match mentally before it began. Every kid gave it the best she could. We have some major work and adjustments to make in practice this week.”
Alyssa Fowles shared the kill lead for the Balers with 23 kills and three blocks. Mallorie Wilson also had 23 kills and 10 blocks. Leslie Schipper had 16 kills and a team-high 10 serving aces. Setters Stephanie Mauro and Kathleen McCullough had 33 and 34 assists, respectively. Mauro had seven aces, while McCullough had five blocks. Jamie Temperino added seven blocks.
The Balers (6-7) host Watsonville tonight at approximately 6 p.m. in a match which was thrown together last week….
The Baler boys polo club was in tough at the Scott Roche Invitational in Atherton this past weekend, but managed to come away with a win over Palo Alto, a school which has produced some good teams over the years. The Balers (6-8) clipped the Vikings 9-8, getting balanced offense. Zach Bainter, Robbie Shattuck, Lucas Zepeda and Ben Dietrich had two goals apiece. Joel Smith recorded the Balers’ final goal.
The tourney began Friday with a 14-2 defeat to host Menlo School, which won Central Coast Section Division II titles in 2000 and 2001. The Balers were skunked by Live Oak 15-4 on Saturday, then dropped a 14-6 contest to Gunn later that day. Zepeda had three goals and Bainter two in the loss to the Titans.
“The kids played their hearts out,” said Baler head coach Tom Agan. “We just don’t have the speed to compete. Speed affects everything. We can’t counter-attack or run transition defense. Live Oak looked good, even better than Salinas. They’re the team to beat in our league.”
The Balers are at the St. Francis Invitational this weekend, not returning to Tri-County Athletic League action until Oct. 14 vs. Carmel.
The Baler girls polo team placed fourth in their pool at the Valley Christian Classic…
Jess Morales, whose Baler cross-country team meets Salinas today in a big race at Park Hill, got a strong performance at the Cowchip Classic in Novato on Saturday. The Baler varsity placed an impressive fourth out of 20 teams in the Golden Chip Division. Jonathan Rivera was 14th on the 3.0-mile course at 16:35. Josh Vasquez ran 20th at 16:49, while Kyle Fowles (17:04) and freshman Alfredo Lopez (17:14) also ran well for the Balers. Freshmen Eddie Trujillo (17:31) and Rigo Vasquez (17:34) weren’t far behind.
The Baler JV’s took sixth out of 15 teams with Kevin Vierra’s 12:13 leading the way. Others included brothers Ernesto Lostanau (12:27) and Sergio Lostanau (12:51) on the shortened 2.1-mile course.
Jeff Spencer led the Baler frosh-soph with an 11:46.
Morales entered a girls varsity team. Jamie O’Brian was 14th at 20:32, while Teralynn Hill ran a 22:29….
In a late tennis score, the Baler girls were blanked by Carmel last Wednesday 7-0. All losses to the Padres were in straight sets. Cathry Villarico and Jamie Huston, playing No. 1 doubles, came the closest, losing 4-6, 4-6. Sheryl and Sheila Overman were defeated at No. 2 doubles 1-6, 3-6. Megan Kirk/Jessica Trudell lost the first set at No. 3 doubles 4-6 and had their match stopped due to darkness. Playing singles for the Balers were Jill Merrigan, Tiffany Davies, Vanessa Martinez and Mary Von Urff…..
