San Benito has one more preseason test this weekend at the
Harbor Invitational
CUPERTINO
After falling to Aptos last Thursday, in a match coach Dean Askanas felt was a step in the right direction, the San Benito girls volleyball team took a step back Tuesday, falling to Homestead in three games (11-25, 15-25, 18-25).
The Lady ‘Balers are now 4-9 in a rather difficult preseason. They’ll compete at the 16-team Harbor Invitational this weekend before opening up the Tri-County Athletic League Tuesday at Alisal.
Last Thursday, San Benito lost to Aptos in straight games (25-27, 13-25, 21-25) as well, but it was a much closer affair than Tuesday’s battle.
“It was a much better match. We digged a lot of balls,” Askanas said of the Aptos match. “Homestead is a better team, but we didn’t show up. I’m not blaming anyone. I’m blaming myself.
“In the end, it looks like I scheduled too hard. I’m not expecting us to win every one of these matches, but I’m expecting us to put up a fight. We need to keep making progress and we’re not.”
Askanas felt the Lady ‘Balers brought a faster pace of play to their home opener against Aptos last week, but couldn’t continue that uptempo gameplay at Homestead Tuesday.
Against Aptos, San Benito had an impressive 77 combined digs, with Sam Klauer leading the way with 24 and Shayna Nakata providing 18. Justine Hunter (10), Chelsea Freitas (10) and Sara Yamasaki (13) each provided double-digit dig totals as well, while the setter Hunter put up 19 assists.
No statistics were provided from Tuesday’s match against Homestead.
San Benito will have one more preseason test this weekend at the Harbor Invitational in Santa Cruz. Pool play begins at 8:30 a.m., although no official time has been announced for when San Benito will start.
Tuesday’s match at Alisal will begin at 6:30 p.m.
