Eyeing a three-game sweep of Stevenson on Thursday night in San
Juan Bautista, the Hawks appeared to lose all of the spark they had
after watching a 10-5 lead in Game 3 transform into a 13-12
deficit.
But when Anzar head coach Jennifer Daughenbaugh quickly called a
timeout, the Hawks quickly reclaimed the lead with a seven-point
run. And with Johnson leading the way from behind the service line,
Anzar scored its first victory in the Mission Trail Athletic League
with a three-game (25-18, 25-15, 25-17) sweep of the visiting
Pirates.
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
Behind the strong serving of Carly Johnson, the Anzar High girls volleyball team showed just how tenacious they can be with a simple swing in momentum.
Eyeing a three-game sweep of Stevenson on Thursday night in San Juan Bautista, the Hawks appeared to lose all of the spark they had after watching a 10-5 lead in Game 3 transform into a 13-12 deficit.
But when Anzar head coach Jennifer Daughenbaugh quickly called a timeout, the Hawks quickly reclaimed the lead with a seven-point run. And with Johnson leading the way from behind the service line, Anzar scored its first victory in the Mission Trail Athletic League with a three-game (25-18, 25-15, 25-17) sweep of the visiting Pirates.
“They’re definitely girls that can get fired up with one little spark,” Daughenbaugh said. “They can feed off that and bring each other up.”
Following the Hawks’ timeout, Anzar responded with a point from Sydnee Masuen to knot the game at 13-all, while Johnson made it a 14-13 lead when she delivered one of her four aces in the match.
Johnson also had 28 assists, while Jayci Imlay added four aces as well.
Below is this week’s edition of the San Benito Score, which features Anzar volleyball:
With the Hawks holding a one-point lead, sophomore Alex Flores then pounded home a point before Johnson padded her stats with yet another ace – this time her serve nipped the net and found no-man’s land on Stevenson’s side of the court.
Everything was going Anzar’s way at that point as the Hawks built a 19-13 lead in Game 3 en route to a 25-17 win. It was a much needed sweep for the Hawks after they found themselves on the receiving end of one Tuesday night at Pacific Grove.
The Hawks are now 1-1 in the MTAL, 5-5 overall.
Coaches Daughenbaugh and Chris Wardlaw noted the many changes that were made since Tuesday’s match with Pacific Grove, though. Without some key players up front, Anzar had been playing a 6-2 offense, which utilizes two setters.
Since the sweep against the Breakers, however, the Hawks have moved back to a 5-1 offense, which features just one setter, and the results have been positive.
“We went to a totally new thing,” Daughenbaugh said. “It’s been great. We’re moving forward with that, but now we know that we can do both.”
Wardlaw expressed a similar sentiment, noting that perhaps the biggest change was just simplifying the offense.
“We had a complex rotation and we simplified it … just eliminating substitutions all over the place,” Wardlaw said. “It was a 10-player rotation that dropped to an eight-player rotation.”
The changes were on full display Thursday night, which featured the booming right arm of Flores. The outside hitter had a team-high 13 kills for Anzar, which marched to victories in Game 1 (25-18) and Game 2 (25-15).
“She’s unbelievable,” Daughenbaugh said. “She’s our offensive tool.”
The Hawks will return to MTAL play on Tuesday when King City will visit San Juan Bautista at 6 p.m.
This Saturday, Anzar will compete in the Mount Madonna Invitational.
Matches begin at 8 a.m.
