The girls tennis team won its first match of the year Tuesday,
easily dispatching North Salinas 7-0 to move its record to 1-3.
The victory comes after the team struggled against Aptos,
Presentation and Carmel to begin the season.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team won its first match of the year Tuesday, easily dispatching North Salinas 7-0 to move its record to 1-3.
The victory comes after the team struggled against Aptos, Presentation and Carmel to begin the season.
Below is this week’s edition of The San Benito Score:
On Tuesday, none of that mattered.
The team’s top two single players, Ally Triolo and Audrey Marshall, dominated in straight sets. Triolo won 6-0 and 6-1 to dispatch of North Salinas’ top player. Marshall did even better and won the match with out losing a game in straight 6-0 sets.
“Everyone did really well,” head coach Ed Cecena said. “Everyone won in straight sets.”
Kelsey Slavich won two sets by scores of 6-4 and 6-2. The team’s fourth singles player, Amanda Alvarez won 6-1 and 6-4.
The Balers’ double pairs also did well, sweeping North Salinas.
Annie Tobias and Makenzie Miguel won their match with scores of 6-1 and 6-2. Gianna Brigantino and Berenice Bribiesca followed suit with a 6-4 and 6-2 straight set win.
Finally, Rachel Logue and Kiley Fontaine finished off North Salinas with a 7-5 tie-breaking win and a 6-4 final set win.
The Balers host Live Oak on Thursday. Look online at freelancenews.com for results.
Girls Golf
The golf team started the new season on a high note Monday, as the team placed third out of 10 teams overall during the preseason Tri-County Athletic League jamboree at San Juan Oaks Golf and Country Club.
The team also had one player, Emiley Palmquist, score among the jamboree’s best scores with a even par 36 on nine holes, according to head coach Corryn Martin.
All scores were not available at press time.
The Balers host Santa Catalina on Thursday. Look online at freelancenews.com for a recap.
Cross Country
The boys and girls cross country teams started out the season with a dominate showing at the Earlybird Invitational on Saturday in Salinas. The boys placed third in the overall standings – just behind Bellarmine and Madera South – with an overall time of 1:20:25.
The girls did even better placing first among the other schools.
Vanessa Estrada and Maura Forbush paced the Balers with the team’s fastest times. Estrada placed second overall with a time of 18:11. Forbush wasn’t far behind, finishing with a time of 19:38 – good for 13th place.
Runners Amy Quinones, Cynthia Trujillo, Megan Pape, Molly Lomanto and Angelica Collins all contributed to the Balers first overall finish with a time of 1:40:29.
Presentation finished 18 seconds behind the Balers score. The next closest team – Valley Christian – finished more than a minute behind the Balers.
The boys team did well, finishing a little more than a minute and a half behind first place finisher Madera South.
Sophomore Ruben Collins led the Balers with an overall time of 15:52, good for sixth place overall but first among his age group.
Another Baler sophomore Steven Velarde placed 17th overall with a time of 16:07.
Other contributing runners included Ricardo Esqueda, Said Hernandez, Johnny Corra, Omar Vasquez and VIctor Esqueda.
The Balers will compete in the Chieftain Classic on Saturday at Toro Park in Salinas. The meet begins at 8 a.m.
Girls Volleyball
The Balers dropped their third straight match by a three games to zero score Tuesday at Carlmont High in Belmont.
The loss is the Balers sixth in the last seven matches dating back to season opening wins against Harbor and Burlingame.
It was another slow start for the Balers that did them in. The team fell behind early in the first game and fell 25-14. The Balers did make things interesting in the second and third games but it wasn’t enough.
The team forced a tiebreaker in game three but still fell 26-24.
The team continued to struggle on the defensive end, head coach Dean Askanas said.
“We are young in a lot of positions and right now, someone has to step up there,” he said.
Because of the defensive struggles, Askanas is preparing his team for a possible overhaul.
“We need to start making a move now,” he said. “League starts next week and we need to have everyone up to speed.”
The volleyball squad will travel to Harbor High on Saturday to enter in its second tournament of the year.
The Balers will enter the tournament with a 3-6 record.
