The girls water polo team clinched a berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs Saturday with a 11-5 victory over Carmel in the Tri-County Athletic League Mountain Division third place game.
Anchored by six goals from Caitlin Schafer and three goals from Hannah Blake, the Balers dominated the game.
San Benito poured on shots throughout the game but they struggled to find the finishing touch, head coach Hayley Vandercook said.
“We could have won by 20,” she said. “But it was just a down night. The win was somber because the girls knew they could play better.”
Saturday was the Balers first win over Carmel in the season, but it was also the first time the Balers were completely healthy, Vandercook said.
“We knew we were going to win coming into the game,” she said. “We were healthy.”
San Benito, which finished the season going 15-10, will play Palo Alto in Palo Alto on Wednesday. The game is expected to start at 7 p.m.
Volleyball
After struggling through the early parts of its schedule, the San Benito girls volleyball team used a mid-season five-game winning streak and a 8-4 league record to propel themselves into the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The Balers overall record of 16-19 and 8-4 league record earned themselves a seventh seed and a home playoff game Tuesday.
San Benito hosts Monta Vista, which finished its season with a 15-16 record, at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the first-round match.
The Balers earned their seventh overall ranking after finishing the league season in second place. With the Baler 3-0 win over Alvarez and Notre Dame’s loss to North Salinas, San Benito finished in a three-way tie for second place in the TCAL.
“The girls were very excited to finish second,” head coach Dean Askanas said. “They worked hard to get there.”
In the CCS playoffs, Askanas expects the Balers to continue their season-long growth.
“I think they are going to play great,” Askanas said. “We are going to have a good practice but like I said, the game is going to be 50/50.”
San Benito will have an advantage, though, because they’ll play the first-round game at home, Askanas said. But the team will still need to play to the best of its abilities.
“I think it helps,” Askanas said. “There is a lot of comfort at home and there is a lot of support. I think its going to be about how we play, though.”
He added, “This team plays well at home and on the road. How we are playing volleyball will determine how far we go.”
And Askanas believes postseason matches are merely a coin flip or a 50/50 shot for both teams.
“In the playoffs anything can happen,” he said.
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