With only one of the games resembling any sort of a comfortable
victory for either team, the two rivals battled to the brink
Tuesday night with the Lady Balers garnering a slight edge as they
narrowly defeated visiting Gilroy in four games (25-22, 27-25,
14-25, 25-22) at Mattson Gym in Hollister.
HOLLISTER
Matches that are over in three games are usually a little easier to forget about. It’s those close, hard-fought ones that tend to linger all season long.
“I think this was a battle,” Gilroy first-year head coach Josh Corioso said. “It was just a battle.”
The second half of the Tri-County Athletic League season hasn’t even started yet, but Tuesday night’s match between San Benito and Gilroy acted as a precursor to what is certainly going to be a mad dash toward the postseason.
With only one of the games resembling any sort of a comfortable victory for either team, the two rivals battled to the brink Tuesday night with the Lady Balers garnering a slight edge as they narrowly defeated visiting Gilroy in four games (25-22, 27-25, 14-25, 25-22) at Mattson Gym in Hollister.
With Salinas and Notre Dame already earning TCAL-title consideration, San Benito, Gilroy and North Salinas are expected to be jockeying for their rightful place in the league standings.
The second half of the TCAL season begins next week.
“To me, it was big because Gilroy fought Salinas … and they fought Notre Dame,” San Benito head coach Dean Askanas said. “So I knew coming in they must have something.
“It was a tough game all the way through, and I’m not looking forward to playing them again until we make some big improvements.”
The Mustangs perhaps wouldn’t mind a rematch next week. Having never defeated San Benito since the two teams joined the TCAL, the Mustangs’ victory in Game 3 Tuesday night at least prevented a three-game sweep – the first time that’s happened since Oct. 2, 2003.
“It’s hard to close a good team out in three games,” Askanas said. “It’s very hard to close out a team in three, especially when two teams are evenly matched.
“But this was a little testimony to our girls to hang in there and not collapse at crunch time.”
That much was evident in Game 2, which saw the Lady Balers trail by as many as four points late in the game, including game point.
Down 20-16 after Gilroy’s Shaunie Hewell found an opening for a kill, San Benito cut the deficit to one behind a pair of kills from outside hitter Jessica Meade. But Gilroy deposited four more scores behind a front line that included Avri Walker and Sarah Una Dia, each of whom provided kills in Gilroy’s four-point spurt, while the Mustangs held serve at game point, 24-21.
But with the Mustangs poised to knot the match at one game apiece, Baler Kelsie Asp kept San Benito alive with a kill of her own, while Gilroy was later called for a net violation that evened the score at 24-all.
The two teams sat tied at 25 as well before Asp slammed down another kill and Gilroy committed a hitting error to seal San Benito’s Game 2 steal, 27-25.
“This was very important because we’ve been trying to prove ourselves all year long,” said Asp, who had nine kills, nine digs and a block Friday. “I think tonight we definitely worked together as a team and brought it together finally and showed everyone we’re here to fight for CCS.”
Gilroy was able to quickly forget the difficult Game 2 loss, however. The Mustangs displayed a noticeable sense of urgency in Game 3 and took advantage of the momentum gained early on. Tied 4-4 at the start, Gilroy went on a 17-5 run behind kills from Loryn Ferreria and Melissa Avila, and held a 21-9 lead after Lindsay Foster dropped in another kill onto San Benito’s side.
The Lady Balers were able to cut the deficit to 10 points, but Gilroy’s lead was far too great.
“The game we did win, we played our own game and we were comfortable in our own setting,” said the senior outside hitter Walker. “But then we came out of our setting.
“We just needed to focus a little bit more and dig a little bit deeper since we didn’t have it for all three games there. I just think it was a mind thing. We could have had it.”
The Mustangs’ edge from Game 3 carried over into the fourth game as well, which saw Gilroy jump out to a 10-6 lead behind strong play at the net from Ferreria, who pocketed three kills and a block early on.
But as evidenced by its Game 2 win, the Lady Balers were resilient all night. They tied Game 4 at 10-all before grabbing a 13-12 lead they never relinquished. Emily Tonascia, who led the Lady Balers with a team-high 10 kills, provided the go-ahead point on a block, then slammed home three more kills to put Gilroy away in the deciding game.
“With them being really close, it was a really big match,” Corioso said. “Obviously Notre Dame and Salinas are two of the stronger teams in the league, so we really wanted to take both of these games against Hollister.
“But we lost, and we’ll have to come back and fight against them in our Senior Night. Hopefully, we’ll be able to take them down in Gilroy.”
The two teams will meet up again on Oct. 29.
San Benito (3-2 TCAL, 13-11) will enjoy a bye on Thursday before returning to league play next Tuesday when it hosts Notre Dame at 6:30 p.m.
“I think (tonight’s win) was very significant in the standings,” Askanas said, “but also very significant emotionally for the team, too.”
—
San Benito had 117 total digs in the four games, with Sam Klauer leading the way with 28 and Sara Yamasaki adding 21. Mari Vallejo (11), Alisha Cornick (11) and Denisia Dikes (10) also provided double-digit dig totals. Cornick had 14 assists, while Raelynn Heredia supplied 13.
