San Benito beat San Lorenzo Valley in four games Tuesday behind
40 assists from Adrian Rodriguez
FELTON
Although their early-season competition was top-notch, it took the San Benito High boys volleyball team nine matches last season before they recorded a win.
On Tuesday, all it took was the season-opener.
Behind 40 assists from setter Adrian Rodriguez and a match-high 17 kills from Erik Rodriguez, the Haybalers pushed past host San Lorenzo Valley in four games (25-17, 19-25, 25-20, 25-18) in Felton.
Roy Powell had 10 kills and four blocks in the victory, while specialist Daniel Ruiz provided 20 digs on defense.
“All in all, it was a pretty good game,” San Benito head coach Luis Espinoza said. “We pretty much dominated all three games that we won.”
After the ‘Balers scored a 25-17 win in Game 1, Espinoza emptied his bench and played many of his substitutes in Game 2.
“I wanted to play everybody,” he said.
Although SLV scored the 25-19 victory in the second game, Espinoza said his subs weren’t far behind, and all it would take for them to reach the next level is a dose of confidence.
“I was surprised by how well my team is playing,” Espinoza added. “It’s fun to watch how good the guys are playing right now.”
San Benito followed Game 2 with a 25-20 win in Game 3 and a 25-18 victory in Game 4 to seal the match.
Luis Bradley and Brian Hawks had seven kills and five kills, respectively, while Adrian Rodriguez had three blocks. Javier Castaneda and Bradley each contributed 11 digs apiece.
“If I can knock on anything they did wrong, it was their communication level,” Espinoza said. “But otherwise I think they did very well.”
The ‘Balers (1-0) will visit Wilcox on Monday at 6:30 p.m., before they have their homer opener on Tuesday against Willow Glen in Hollister.
TEAM 1 2 3 4
SAN 25 19 25 25
SLV 17 25 20 18
