Gilroy – This is one Gilroy wants to remember and San Benito would like to forget.
In a Tri-County Athletic League stunner at GHS, the Mustangs enjoyed their finest moments of the season with a 4-3 win over the Haybalers.
GHS coach Randy Barbaglia has talked all season that his team should be one of the top middle-rung teams. In San Benito, the Mustangs were facing a team solidly in third place whose only previous losses were to TCAL powers Salinas and Notre Dame.
And to be fair, the ‘Balers (6-9 overall, 4-4 TCAL) were without two injured players and a third who was ineligible. But San Benito beat Gilroy 7-0 in the first meeting, and the Mustangs were not able to win a single set.
This time, GHS (3-4) took advantage of opportunities and won 3 of 4 singles matches. Emily Castro rebounded after a disastrous start to defeat the ‘Balers Rebecca Williams 0-6, 6-4, 10-7.
“I don’t like to lose, and I’m way too competitive to accept what happened in the first set,” Castro said. “I was angry and it made me want to step it up.”
The Mustangs took advantage of San Benito’s inexperience at Nos. 3 and 4 singles. Gories Kwong also fought off a first-set loss to edge freshman Yumi Chang 5-7, 6-4, 10-7. And Cherilyn Christian got GHS started, as she was the first singles player to finish and defeated sophomore Crystal Perreira 6-2, 6-4.
“The wind played a big part, both good and bad,” Christian said of her match. “I was pretty consistent with my serving and my backhand was really good.”
All eyes were on the Kwong-Chang match, which was the last to end. San Benito No. 1 Amanda Marshall had done her part by dispatching Amy Huang 6-2, 6-4. The Nos. 2 and 3 doubles teams had won.
Kwong got off to a fast start in the tiebreaker, leading 9-3. Chang scored four straight points before faltering. Kwong played some mind games with herself to keep her spirits up after losing the first game.
“I told myself after losing the first set that I have to win this or no one will like me,” Kwong said.
She admitted she didn’t know what was going on around her, but she did hear the whooping and hollering after she closed the match.
GHS won at No. 1 singles when Holly Hunter and Karissa Tellez held off Michelle Rovella and Marissa Ibarra 6-2, 3-6, 10-8.
San Benito won the other doubles matches with Elena Fata and Abby Woods defeating Kim Johnson and Natalie Toews 7-5, 6-4, and Athena Hernandez and Courtney Fisher easing past Sidney Eberts and Alissa Castro 6-4, 6-0.
“You got to get into their heads that they can do it,” Barbaglia said. “They gained a little bit of confidence from this match.”
Meanwhile, ‘Balers’ coach Ed Cecena was philosophical.
“We’ve got to get our players healthy,” said Cecena, who is hopeful of getting No. 2 singles player back Lizzy Gatto next week. “Our normal lineup competes pretty well with everybody.
“At the same time, the way I look at it is we got Yumi and Crystal playing time at singles for the first time this season. They performed well for their first matches. Sometimes it takes growing pains before you get to where you want to be.”
