San Benito wins in three, faces unexpected foe in championship
Saturday
Santa Clara – San Benito took care of business Thursday and will head to the Central Coast Section Division I championship game for the second straight year.
Their opponent will be an unexpected one.
Second-seeded Carlmont, who the ‘Balers lost to in last year’s title game, was surprisingly swept in their semifinal match against Homestead in Thursday’s early action at Santa Clara High, meaning top-seeded San Benito will take on the No. 3 Mustangs in Saturday‚s 7pm title game at Independence High in San Jose.
“I’m surprised that Homestead beat them in three,” San Benito coach Dean Askanas said. “I thought it would be a close match but if anyone was going to win in three, I would’ve thought Carlmont would. It better be a wake up call for all of us. I know it was for me.”
San Benito’s journey to the title game and a chance to bring home the first girls volleyball CCS title in school history proved to be rather routine.
After shaking off a bit of a slow start, the ‘Balers dominated their way to a 25-14 win in the first game.
The duo of senior setter Chelsea Fowles and junior opposite Emily Kortsen hooked up eight times. Fowles finished the first game with 13 assists, Kortsen had nine kills and an ace to stake San Benito to the early advantage.
The second game followed a similar path. The ‘Balers never trailed and 5-5 was the closest it got.
Five straight San Benito points followed that and the ‘Balers closed out a 25- 15 win when Kortsen sent home a kill off a Fowles assist.
Another slow start in the third game allowed the Cardinals to start with a 2-0 lead. The ‘Balers responded with a 6-0 run to take control of the game.
Mt. Pleasant showed some fight and had the game as close as 10-8. Four straight San Benito points regained control of the game at 15-9 and the ‘Balers finished off a 25-13 win on one of Kortsen‚s team-high 17 kills.
“We came out so pumped up, more pumped up than any game this year,” Kortsen said. “We know what we want. We want a CCS title.”
While there may be a few concerns because the ‘Balers haven’t been challenged much in either of their first two CCS games, the team is confident.
“I just know we want it so bad,” Kortsen said. “I think we’re going to come out real strong.”
