San Benito opens TCAL season Tuesday at Alisal
SANTA CRUZ
In their final tune-up before the regular season, the San Benito girls volleyball team went 2-2 at the Harbor Invitational last weekend.
San Benito defeated Hillsdale in straight games (25-17, 25-16) and St. Francis of Watsonville (26-28, 26-24, 15-7) before falling to Menlo (29-27, 25-17) and Deer Valley (25-18, 25-12).
Coach Dean Askanas was pleased with his team’s performance against St. Francis.
“They’re a pretty good team. That was a good win for us,” he said. “We changed the lineup on Thursday and I think it was very effective. It was the best combination of offense and defense (this season).”
Askanas moved Sam Klauer and Shayna Nakata, normally his liberos, to the outside and had Sara Yamasaki at the libero position.
“I had three really good defensive specialists on the floor at all times,” Askanas said. “We’re always working on building more offensively. But it looked like a step in the right direction, at least the biggest step in the right direction (this season).”
Even San Benito’s defeat to Menlo was close, a team ranked No. 2 in the San Jose Mercury News.
“But we played well and played at a higher level,” Askanas said. “We’re small, but we’re fast.”
Harbor finished first overall at the tournament, while Menlo was second.
San Benito, which is 6-11 overall, will open the Tri-County Athletic League season Tuesday at Alisal. Match time is 6:30 p.m.
