Tag: volleyball

The Gavilan volleyball team continues to stay hot.

The Gavilan volleyball team has started off it's conference season on the right foot.

Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is dominating an opponent when you’re expected to do it.

The Gavilan volleyball team swept Monterey Peninsula College 3-0 Friday in a Conference Crossover game at home. 

If the San Benito High girls’ volleyball team ends up winning the Central Coast Section Division I final later in the season, it will know exactly what jump-started the championship run.

The Haybalers (9-5) weren’t exactly on life support heading into last Saturday’s Harbor Invitational, but they needed a jolt to turn around their season. And that’s exactly what the Balers got as a result of going 5-1 and reaching the finals of the Harbor Invitational for the first time in school history.

“If you told me before the tournament started that we were going to reach the finals, I don’t know if I would’ve believed you,” Balers coach Dean Askanas said. “We put all of our chips on the table.”

Did they ever. A couple of days before the team’s first match in the tournament against Palo Alto — the fourth-ranked team in the CCS — Askanas told his players it was now or never.

“I told them that if we did not win the match versus Palo Alto, we weren’t going to get anything done for the rest of the season,” Askanas said. “That we wouldn’t win a league title or anything else. It was a bit of a risk to say something so bold, because of course we were huge underdogs against Palo Alto. But I believe we have a very talented team, and the girls needed to dig deep and do some soul-searching.”

After upsetting Palo Alto in three sets to open up pool play, San Benito rolled to straight-set wins over Ripon Christian and San Lorenzo Valley before pulling out a nail-biting, three-set win over Notre Dame-Salinas.

The Haybalers followed that up with a victory over Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton before falling in the championship match to a superior Granite Bay squad, one of the best teams in Northern California.

Askanas was particularly pleased with the team’s ability to prevail in two matches that went the distance.

“They showed the ability to fight through things when things weren’t going their way, and that’s always a good sign,” Askanas said.

Outside hitters Alexandria Smallwood and Marisa Villegas earned all-tournament honors, and middle blocker Haley Leifheit had a breakout performance, coming up huge against Palo Alto.

The Balers were down a match point at 15-14 when Askanas called Leifheit’s number, and the 5-foot-10 sophomore delivered. Leifheit’s kill made it 15-15, and San Benito won the next two points to take the match.

“Beating Palo Alto was our first good win of the season,” Askanas said. “At that point we were 4-4, and the victory gave us the confidence to not be satisfied unless we made it all the way to the finals. It was like medicine for our souls because we had to show we could play well against a capable opponent, and Palo Alto is an ultra capable opponent.”

San Benito had a full week of practice before the tournament, and it worked on a number of things, including receiving tougher play from its middle blockers and improving its serving percentage.

The Balers received inspired play from libero Allyson Murphy, who time and again managed to dig up balls that would normally land for points. Running a two-setter offense with Erica Chapa and Serena Adame, San Benito’s offense has become more diversified.

However, Askanas said his setters need to be a little more accurate — especially when it comes to sets close to the net — when they set up Smallwood, Villegas and Leifheit.

Talk about upside: The Balers have made tremendous strides just a month into the season, and they don’t plan on letting up anytime soon.

“If we were going to accomplish anything, we had to do it now,” Askanas said. “There was no tomorrow, it had to happen at that very moment.”

And it did.

During her junior season, Erica Chapa asked longtime San Benito girls volleyball coach Dean Askanas if she could eventually become a setter.

“He kind of gave me a blank stare and laughed a little bit,” Chapa said. “Then he said, ‘Like, really?’ I said yes, thinking it was a good idea.”

Good indeed. An athletic 5-foot-8 senior, Chapa ranks first on the team in assists (167), second in service aces (nine) and fourth in digs (66). The Haybalers (4-4) play in the Harbor Invitational on Saturday.

“My reasoning to set was to hopefully play college volleyball,” Chapa said. “I know I’m not tall enough to play the front row in college (from her normal opposite position), and setting would give me the best chance to play at the next level.”

It’s only appropriate that Chapa was thinking ahead, because that’s exactly what she does every time she steps on the court. Setters are essentially the quarterbacks of a volleyball team because they have to constantly make the correct decisions for the team to succeed.

Every time a setter receives a pass, the player has to think about a number of things. Who do I set the ball to? Does my outside hitter want a high-arcing set or a quick, low one? Should I dump the ball and go for the point myself?

These are all things Chapa has to process in mere seconds literally hundreds of times during a match, but she’s been more than up to the task so far. What has impressed Askanas the most is Chapa’s ability to run the offense at a quick tempo.

“Erica plays with exceptional speed,” he said. “It’s the first thing you look for in a setter. A setter can have great hands, but if they’re slow and can’t make things happen, then they’re not going to be very effective. You can teach a setter to have acceptable hands, but you can’t teach a slow setter to play fast. Erica is an aggressive and fast athlete.”

Despite having never played setter before — Chapa only started playing volleyball in the eighth grade — she made meteoric improvements in her game within the last couple of years by watching endless video of herself along with setters from her club team, Adrenaline.

Chapa studied the game before honing her skills through hours of practice. Until recently, Chapa never thought volleyball would end up being her best sport. She played a number of sports growing up, including basketball, soccer and softball.

Chapa was a standout goalkeeper for the San Jose-based Portuguese Athletic Club team, which won six tournaments and was the top-ranked team in Northern California four years ago, Chapa said.

But shortly after that club season — Chapa was an eighth grader at the time — the team disbanded, setting up her volleyball career. That same year, Chapa decided to try out for the Spring Grove School volleyball team, and it was love at first spike.

“Before that, I had only played some volleyball in P.E. classes,” said Chapa, who admitted she had no idea if she was good enough to play at San Benito. “When I made the JV team as a freshman in high school, that’s when I realized I could be good at volleyball.”

Chapa has developed a good chemistry with San Benito outside hitters Alexandria Smallwood and Marisa Villegas, who rank first and second on the team in kills with 67 and 52, respectively.

“It’s important to talk and work with your hitters because they want the ball in a certain spot, and it’s up to me to deliver it to them,” Chapa said.

“A great setter can make an average hitter look good and a good hitter look great because she can put the ball right in the hitter’s wheelhouse,” Askanas said. “And that’s what Erica has been doing.”

Although Chapa loves volleyball, there’s a chance this might be her last year of playing the sport in organized competition. Some of the universities she wants to attend — including Long Beach State, Arizona and UC Santa Barbara, just to name a few — field top-notch Division I programs.

Chapa’s career goal is to become a coroner, a dream that started when she was in the sixth grade. For now, Chapa will stick with dissecting the competition on the volleyball court.

With only 10 players on his roster, San Benito High girls volleyball coach Dean Askanas has to pull up a junior varsity player and use one of the assistant coaches just to hold an intra-squad scrimmage.

But make no mistake: The Haybalers — despite their somewhat thin roster — won’t be making any excuses. That’s not the way Askanas operates.

“We have a very athletic group, athleticism at almost every position,” said Askanas, who is in his ninth year as San Benito’s coach. “This is the smallest roster I’ve had here, and 13 would be an ideal number. But it just didn’t work out that way this year because some girls from the JV weren’t ready to come up, and we had another player who tore her ACL over the summer.”

Askanas would love nothing more than to make a return appearance in a Central Coast Section tournament championship match.

The Haybalers — who were 4-3 entering Thursday night’s match at Homestead-Cupertino — last reached the CCS finals in 2008, when they finished as the Division I runner-up for the second straight year after winning it all in ’06.

“We want to be playing for that championship again,” Askanas said. “If we can improve our middle blocker position and get healthy, we’ll be a real contender.”

San Benito has two big-time offensive talents in senior outside hitter Alexandria Smallwood and freshman outside hitter Marisa Villegas, who rank first and second on the team in kills, with 57 and 55, respectively.

“Allie is probably the strongest hitter on our team,” Askanas said. “She’s also passing really well and is mentally tough. Marisa is probably the most talented and strongest freshman I’ve had in my 22 years of coaching. She’s exceptionally fast, she’s got great hand-eye coordination and she doesn’t get fazed mentally, either.”

Senior setter Erica Chapa has elevated the level of her teammates’ play by making sound decisions and playing at a quick pace that keeps the opposing team on its heels and constantly guessing defensively.

Chapa plays all six rotations — meaning she never leaves the floor. The Balers have also been buoyed by the play of sophomore middle blocker Haley Leifheit and senior opposite Serena Adame.

“Haley still has to work on her blocking skills, but if she sticks with it, she’s a potential collegiate player,” Askanas said.

After the Homestead match, the Balers won’t have another match until they play in the Harbor Invitational on Sept. 21.

The Anzar High girls volleyball program is the only sports team at the school that plays in an upper-tier division while also fielding a junior varsity team — no small feat considering the Hawks are perennial contenders in the Central Coast Section playoffs.

“We take pride in being that one team sport that has both a varsity and JV team at Anzar,” said Anzar co-coach Chris Wardlaw, who has been with the program since 2001 and is in his third separate coaching stint with the team after not leading the squad in 2005 and last season. Tom Schatz is Anzar’s other co-coach.

“Our feeder schools know we’re good, and the younger girls on those teams see their older sisters playing at Anzar, and they want to do it. It’s a cycle that repeats itself, and that’s why we rarely have a bad season.”

No kidding. The Hawks have missed the playoffs just twice in the last 12 years and notched another solid season in 2012. Anzar finished 23-6 overall — 12-2 in the Mission Trail Athletic League — and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CCS Division V tournament. 

Simply put, the Hawks are buoyed by an influx of fresh talent every season. That’s why Wardlaw wasn’t worried even after he lost every single starter off last year’s team, along with a number of key reserves who saw significant action.

“It’s a unique situation having to replace your entire starting lineup,” Wardlaw said. “We lost some players to graduation, but we also lost a number of players who were expected to be impact starters for this season. Three girls moved (out of the area), one is doing independent studies and another transferred. We’ll still be fine, though. We have a lot of raw talent, and the question is how quickly can we mold it.”

Most of — if not all — of the players on Anzar’s roster play club volleyball, meaning the Hawks are loaded with experienced athletes who play the sport year-round.

“We’ve got a lot of height and some great athletes,” Wardlaw said. “Almost all of the great girl athletes at our school, we can get on our team.”

Key impact players on this year’s team include junior libero Emily Papenhausen, junior outside hitter Karina Campos and senior opposite Kris Johnson-Powell. Last year, Papenhausen finished with 336 digs and 25 service aces, ranking third and fourth, respectively, in those categories.   

"She's the best ball control player on our team," Wardlaw said. "She will undoubtedly lead our team in passing and digs."

Wardlaw feels confident he'll receive steady production from his taller frontline players, even though they lack varsity experience. Ashley Devery, Mariah Dugas, Tera Reed and Leslie Martinez are all 5-foot-10 or taller and possessing vast offensive hitting potential.

 

 

Gavilan volleyball dropped a pair of matches at the Santa Rosa Tournament Saturday, losing 3-1 against Feather River College and 3-2 against Santa Rosa.

The 2012-13 sports season was a banner year for San Benito High. After winning Monterey Bay League titles in cross country, boys basketball, softball, girls swimming, track and field and boys volleyball, San Benito had at least one sport crowned a champion each season.