After last season’s 0-9 start, San Benito has opened this year
with a 5-3 record
HOLLISTER
Strong team chemistry is an integral part to any championship-caliber team. However, how it’s achieved can sometimes baffle even the most storied programs.
The San Benito High boys volleyball team held frequent get-togethers off the court last year in order to develop a strong team bond, but whether it be youth, inexperience or just a lack of urgency toward a Tri-County Athletic League title, the Haybalers had difficulty getting off the ground from the get-go, opening their 2008 season with a dismal 0-9 record.
Fast-forward one year and it’s noticeable how much has changed for the boys volleyball team, and it shows in their overall record.
At 5-3, the ‘Balers are nearly a month ahead of last season’s win total, when they didn’t pocket their fifth win until April 5. But behind victories over San Lorenzo Valley (3-1), Wilcox (3-0), Soquel (2-1), the Kings Academy (2-0) and Monterey (3-1) already this season, San Benito reached the five-win total on March 7 – and against TCAL rival and four-time defending league champion Monterey, no less.
“It’s chemistry. We all get along,” senior libero Danny Ruiz said. “Last year, we didn’t have a connection. It was all broken up. This year, we’re all well connected and we all get along.
“I think we did more last year, to get connected as a team. But it just wasn’t there. This year it just happened. Everybody wants to win … They know we can get it and it feels reachable.”
The last league banner that adorns the walls of Mattson Gym came in 2001. But despite their league-champion lull, the ‘Balers have their sights set high already this season, and knocking off Monterey at the Spring Fling in Aptos certainly helped.
San Benito, which was swept by the Toreadors in a pair of league matches last season, beat their rival in three games (25-16, 24-26, 15-7) on March 7.
“I was pretty excited because it was a big win for us,” middle blocker Jakob Rice said. “We should have beat them in two, but we got them in three and I was glad that we won.”
“I was pretty happy we got that outcome,” San Benito head coach Luis Espinoza said after the tournament. “It was huge. A big lift.”
The ‘Balers returned nine members from last year’s team, which wound up finishing 10-19 overall and in fourth place in the TCAL at 8-6.
And one of the biggest differences Espinoza has seen in his team already branches from the fact that the amount of players who competed on a club team during the offseason doubled – from three to six.
“It makes a huge difference when they play all year round,” Espinoza said.
Anchored by 6-foot-4 middles Roy Powell and Jakob Rice, outside hitters Erik Rodriguez and Luis Bradley, right side Brian Hawks, the libero Ruiz and setter Adrian Rodriguez, the ‘Balers returned their core after losing just two seniors last season in David Dela Cruz and Elijah Pollard.
“The team chemistry is just a lot better and we have a lot more talent this year,” Powell said. “We talk a lot more and we’re just playing a lot better as a team.
“Everything is just basically better.”
And the ‘Balers will bring their best efforts against the usual suspects in Monterey, Seaside and Gilroy. Through the preseason, Gilroy appears to be the most formidable, compiling a 5-0 record and even trumping Willow Glen in three games, a team San Benito fell to in four on March 3.
But despite that, some prognosticators have penciled in the ‘Balers to be standing at the top of the TCAL when everything is said and done.
“It should a good year to do that,” said Hawks, noting the many returning players to San Benito’s roster. “We have the chemistry going.”
And they certainly have the confidence, especially compared to the start of last season.
“But whatever is said in writing is in writing,” Espinoza said of the preseason rankings. “It matters what happens on the court. On paper we may look good. But it depends on how well we play together.
“It takes a team to win a championship … When they play as a team and communicate, which is the biggest thing on the court, it’s so fun to watch. It’s just a lot of fun to watch them play.”
