Sophomore Ellie Burley had 15 kills, Katherine Breger added 12
kills, and the San Benito girls volleyball team swept Alisal in
three sets (25-14, 25-12, 25-12) on Thursday night in Tri-County
Athletic League play.
SALINAS
Sophomore Ellie Burley had 15 kills, Katherine Breger added 12 kills, and the San Benito girls volleyball team swept Alisal in three sets (25-14, 25-12, 25-12) on Thursday night in Tri-County Athletic League play.
The rebound win pushes the Balers to 2-3 in the TCAL, and one step closer to returning to .500 after early season losses North Salinas, Salinas and Notre Dame.
Head coach Dean Askanas said the team has looked “disconnected” since a three-set win against Menlo on Sept. 28, though, even during San Benito’s four-set win over Gilroy last week.
Meanwhile, the team’s bread-and-butter — its defense — has not been up to par in recent matches.
But on Thursday in Salinas, San Benito’s offensive attack took advantage against a two-win Trojan team, which has just one league win to its name. Double-digit kill totals from Burley and Breger turned the Balers’ normally defensive game into an offensive one.
“We didn’t dig as many balls because we killed so many, which was effective,” Askanas said. “It’s hard to say because we were terminating pretty quickly. We passed well and we looked more connected.”
Ryan Asp had seven kills in the match, while Jessica Steigelman added six. The defense was widespread, though, with Asp having 12 digs, Raelynn Heredia adding 11 digs and 27 assists, and Mari Vallejo and Sara Yamasaki providing 10 digs and seven digs, respectively.
“They looked confident,” Askanas said.
The Balers (11-12) will return to the floor on Tuesday, traveling back to Salinas to take on Alvarez. San Benito will then start the second half of its TCAL schedule when it visits North Salinas on Thursday.
Matches begin at 6:30 p.m.
TEAM 1 3 3
SANB 25 25 25
ALIS 14 12 12
