Sports

San Benito, after receiving a first-round bye, will play

If the San Benito High girls’ volleyball team ends up winning the Central Coast Section Division I final later in the season, it will know exactly what jump-started the championship run.

The Haybalers (9-5) weren’t exactly on life support heading into last Saturday’s Harbor Invitational, but they needed a jolt to turn around their season. And that’s exactly what the Balers got as a result of going 5-1 and reaching the finals of the Harbor Invitational for the first time in school history.

“If you told me before the tournament started that we were going to reach the finals, I don’t know if I would’ve believed you,” Balers coach Dean Askanas said. “We put all of our chips on the table.”

Did they ever. A couple of days before the team’s first match in the tournament against Palo Alto — the fourth-ranked team in the CCS — Askanas told his players it was now or never.

“I told them that if we did not win the match versus Palo Alto, we weren’t going to get anything done for the rest of the season,” Askanas said. “That we wouldn’t win a league title or anything else. It was a bit of a risk to say something so bold, because of course we were huge underdogs against Palo Alto. But I believe we have a very talented team, and the girls needed to dig deep and do some soul-searching.”

After upsetting Palo Alto in three sets to open up pool play, San Benito rolled to straight-set wins over Ripon Christian and San Lorenzo Valley before pulling out a nail-biting, three-set win over Notre Dame-Salinas.

The Haybalers followed that up with a victory over Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton before falling in the championship match to a superior Granite Bay squad, one of the best teams in Northern California.

Askanas was particularly pleased with the team’s ability to prevail in two matches that went the distance.

“They showed the ability to fight through things when things weren’t going their way, and that’s always a good sign,” Askanas said.

Outside hitters Alexandria Smallwood and Marisa Villegas earned all-tournament honors, and middle blocker Haley Leifheit had a breakout performance, coming up huge against Palo Alto.

The Balers were down a match point at 15-14 when Askanas called Leifheit’s number, and the 5-foot-10 sophomore delivered. Leifheit’s kill made it 15-15, and San Benito won the next two points to take the match.

“Beating Palo Alto was our first good win of the season,” Askanas said. “At that point we were 4-4, and the victory gave us the confidence to not be satisfied unless we made it all the way to the finals. It was like medicine for our souls because we had to show we could play well against a capable opponent, and Palo Alto is an ultra capable opponent.”

San Benito had a full week of practice before the tournament, and it worked on a number of things, including receiving tougher play from its middle blockers and improving its serving percentage.

The Balers received inspired play from libero Allyson Murphy, who time and again managed to dig up balls that would normally land for points. Running a two-setter offense with Erica Chapa and Serena Adame, San Benito’s offense has become more diversified.

However, Askanas said his setters need to be a little more accurate — especially when it comes to sets close to the net — when they set up Smallwood, Villegas and Leifheit.

Talk about upside: The Balers have made tremendous strides just a month into the season, and they don’t plan on letting up anytime soon.

“If we were going to accomplish anything, we had to do it now,” Askanas said. “There was no tomorrow, it had to happen at that very moment.”

And it did.

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