San Benito roundup
Gilroy – It didn’t matter where or how they hit the ball, everything fell.
The San Benito girls volleyball team didn’t have much trouble dispatching Gilroy 25-6, 25-7, 25-15 in the league opener Tuesday for both teams.
San Benito (16-3, 1-0 TCAL) used a strong hitting attack and a tough serving game to keep Gilroy off balance for the whole match.
“I was most pleased that they kept a level play,” said Haybaler coach Jennifer Beall. “Going in, we stressed respecting our opponents and treating it like was for first place.”
The Mustangs had trouble stringing together many points against a Baler team that has yet to lose a single game, nevertheless a match, in non-tournament play.
Before Gilroy had a chance to get situated, San Benito had a 6-0 lead behind the power serving of Leslie Schipper. Schipper and Michelle Sanchez each had three aces in the game. Kat McCullough and Chelsea Fowles had two.
The Balers quickly went up 16-2 before Gilroy was forced to call a time out to try to slow the momentum.
“Our passing was on, and that let us run a lot of plays,” Schipper said. “Our coach told us it wouldn’t be easy. If they had a little better serving and receiving, it could have been closer.”
The Mustangs (4-10, 0-1 TCAL) had a couple nice blocks by Katherine Hussey and Jessica Groppe to keep a rally going and pick up a point in the first game. But it wasn’t enough.
But the Baler hitting attack was too much.
McCullough led the way with eight kills and Schipper had five.
San Benito got off to quick leads in the final two games as well.
“We’re a real young team,” said Gilroy coach Sam Navarez. “We had several players playing out of position, and we asked them to do some different things than last year. We’re not focusing on the negatives but on the positives and building from there.”
Amanda Link, a senior 6-0 outside hitter who played all the way around, led the team in kills with six of the team’s 13 kills. Grope had three.
San Benito plays North Salinas on Thursday then gets tested next week against Salinas and Notre Dame.
JV note
The San Benito JV team defeated Gilroy 25-17, 23-25, 15-9 to improve to 8-3 overall and 1-0 in league.
Courtney Fisher dropped in 12 of 12 serves and had three aces. Audra Brown was 9-for-9 with her hitting attack and had four kills.
Robyn Huertas had nine assists, and Levon Silguero had five.
Frosh note
The San Benito freshmen team defeated Gilroy 25-19, 17-25, 15-12 Tuesday.
Haybaler Hailey Kemp had four kills and Kelsey Jackson and Elizabeth Schlic had three kills.
Audra Boyd and Haley MacFarlane both had strong serving and passing games.
Girls tennis
San Benito High’s girls tennis team downed host Gilroy 4-3 in TCAL action.
In singles play, Baler No. 1 Danielle Burke won 6-0, 6-0, No. 2 Jaime Houton was a winner 6-0, 6-3, and No. 4 Mary Von Urff took a 6-0, 6-1 decision.
And, in doubles, the No. 2 team of Tracy Hopkins and Kaitlyn O’Keefe also won.
Girls golf
Freshman Marissa Gutierrez came in first with a 47.
Senior Corryn Pacheco came in second with a 48.
Junior Erica Bardo had a 52.
Senior Ashly Cullumber had a 57 and senior Megan Smith shot a 58.
“I’m real pleased with Marissa … it’s her best outing yet,” said fourth-year Baler coach Mark Tinder. “She’s been really anxious to play high school golf, and she’s already gained some valuable experience.”
