After opening up the league season with a three-game loss at
Live Oak, San Benito came out strong Wednesday night, winning
25-20, 24-26, 25-16, 25-23.
The Balers (16-16, 3-3 TCAL) were able to win despite the loss
of junior outside hitter Alyssa Fowles, who went down in the second
game with a right ankle injury. Fowles had six kills when she was
forced to leave.
After opening up the league season with a three-game loss at Live Oak, San Benito came out strong Wednesday night, winning 25-20, 24-26, 25-16, 25-23.
The Balers (16-16, 3-3 TCAL) were able to win despite the loss of junior outside hitter Alyssa Fowles, who went down in the second game with a right ankle injury. Fowles had six kills when she was forced to leave.
The injury sent coach Chuck Schallhorn scrambling to find a replacement. Ashley Patton came in to take over as the emergency fill in.
“At this point, I could not be prouder of our girls,” Schallhorn said. “Ashley played well in a position she had never played before.”
Although Live Oak (2-4 TCAL) won the second game, the Balers were able to regain focus to take the next two.
Stephanie Mauro celebrated her birthday with 22 assists. Kathleen McCullough added 15 assists.
“The key to the match was the passing,” Schallhorn said. “Amy Baxter, Michele Sanchez and Melissa Moore passed extremely well to give the setters a great chance to set up the attackers. As a result, our hitters were on tonight.”
Leslie Schipper, who was moved from middle to outside after the injury, had 12 kills and four aces.
Melissa Moore added 11 kills from the outside and two aces with her tough jump serves. Mallorie Wilson had eight kills and six blocks, and Amy Baxter dropped in three aces.
“Teamwork played a huge part in the victory,” Schallhorn said. “Of the 99 points we scored in the match, 71 were scored by attacking the ball and getting kills, blocks or aces. That means Live Oak gave us very few points. We had to work hard to earn each point we got.”
Frosh note: San Benito beat Live Oak in three games tonight. The scores were 23-25, 25-18, 15-5. Robyn Huertas had five kills, and Audra Brown came up with five aces.
