They took the floor in front of the home folks with a spring in
their step and it showed in their performance. San Benito High
defeated feisty Gilroy 25-15, 23-25, 25-13, 25-21 at Mattson Gym
Thursday night to even their Tri-County Athletic League record at
1-1.
”
It was great playing in front of our home crowd,
”
said the Balers Leslie Schipper, who had an outstanding
all-around match.
”
Our passing was awesome, that was the key.
”
They took the floor in front of the home folks with a spring in their step and it showed in their performance. San Benito High defeated feisty Gilroy 25-15, 23-25, 25-13, 25-21 at Mattson Gym Thursday night to even their Tri-County Athletic League record at 1-1.
“It was great playing in front of our home crowd,” said the Balers Leslie Schipper, who had an outstanding all-around match. “Our passing was awesome, that was the key.”
The Balers used a new rotation defense in game one and repeated it in game two.
“Gilroy made an adjustment in the second game and served us real tough,” said Baler head coach Chuck Schallhorn.
“We started off slowly,” said Gilroy head coach Sam Navarez. “Then we got back into the match. Kudos to San Benito. They played quality volleyball, but we could have played better.”
The Balers spurted out to a huge lead in game three. Mallorie Wilson, who was very effective at the net for the Balers, put down a freeball for 14-4. Wilson, who was one of three players for the Balers with nine kills, powered down a winner at 16-4. Kathleen McCullough pulled off a net ace and the Mustangs (13-4, 0-2) called timeout. Melissa Moore (9 kills), donated a kill for 19-5.
Schipper (9 kills) had one of her best swings of the season for 22-8. Then it was Schipper from setter Stephanie Mauro for 23-11. Wilson’s kill brought game point. Schipper’s ball hit the net and landed in.
Junior Michelle Sanchez, who is improving every game at back row, started off game four with two serving aces. A Moore swing off a set from McCullough and it was 3-1 Balers. Alyssa Fowles’ deep ace made it 4-1. Fowles had three aces for the match.
The Balers extended their lead in game four to 15-7, but the Mustangs rallied right back as the Balers became sloppy in their ballhandling. Schallhorn had to call timeout after the Mustangs ran off seven straight points.
The Balers ran a pretty play out of the timeout with McCullough backsetting to Moore for a kill. At 20-19, Wilson took a short set in the middle and rifled it down for a point.
Sophomore Amanda Boyd, who showed great quickness off the floor and fine leaping ability, had a kill for 23-20. Schipper’s ace gave the Balers match point. Gilroys’ serve at 24-21 was long and there was the match.
“This game should get us going,” said Schipper, who had five aces, as well.
San Benito is at the Menlo-Atherton Tournament this Saturday, starting at 8:30 a.m. The Balers host North Salinas next Tuesday as T-CAL action resumes.
