ollowing last Thursday’s three-game sweep of visiting Carmel,
San Benito head coach Erica Richardson was anything but
pleased.
It was a sweep, mind you, but the first-year head coach felt her
team played down to the competition and allowed the opposition to
inch closer and closer in each game.
”
Tonight, I’m much happier,
”
Richardson said on Tuesday, moments after her Haybalers posted a
three-game sweep (25-21, 25-23, 25-22) over visiting Seaside at
Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
HOLLISTER
Following last Thursday’s three-game sweep of visiting Carmel, San Benito head coach Erica Richardson was anything but pleased.
It was a sweep, mind you, but the first-year head coach felt her team played down to the competition and allowed the Padres to inch closer and closer with each game.
“Tonight, I’m much happier,” Richardson said on Tuesday, moments after her Haybalers posted a three-game sweep (25-21, 25-23, 25-22) over visiting Seaside at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
The difference?
“They played much better as a team,” she said. “You always have a job to do. That’s something you have to be prepared for and they did a much better job of executing that today.”
Before, Richardson added, the team was just watching the play develop without ever anticipating the next move. And while San Benito still undergoes bouts with inconsistency, perhaps a direct result of floor communication — a sign of youth and inexperience, Richardson felt — the signs of progress were in full effect on Tuesday night as the Balers held their current third-place position in the Tri-County Athletic League.
San Benito is now 7-2 in the TCAL and 10-6 overall, and sits just a half-game behind second-place Monterey, which lost a five-set thriller to undefeated Gilroy on Tuesday night.
“And [Seaside] took a game off Monterey,” said Richardson, whose Balers lost in three games to the Toreadors. “This was very motivating for the boys. It’s definitely gonna be a big aspect for their confidence.
“Seaside is competitive. They work hard. They were a good team, so this was very big for us, very big for us.”
Although the two teams appeared to be rather evenly matched, especially at the beginning of each set, San Benito managed to pull away in each game behind a strong performance from Roy Powell.
“In key moments, he got it done,” Richardson said. “I could say, ‘Roy, find your setter.’ And he would find the setter and put the ball away.”
In the first game, for instance, with San Benito unable to build upon its two-point lead late in the set, Powell put a fingertip-touch on the ball to loft it over three Seaside defenders at the net, giving the Balers 23-20 lead they never relinquished.
In the second game, after Seaside erased a 19-15 deficit and forced San Benito to call a timeout, Powell helped push the Balers to victory when he contributed on four of San Benito’s remaining six points in the game. He deposited a pair of kills, then teamed up with David Hawks and Alex Alvarez for a pair of blocks — the latter block proving to be the game-winner for San Benito.
“He was crucial in getting us out of those moments when we were getting stuck,” Richardson said.
Alex Alvarez also stepped up when needed. After Seaside cut San Benito’s 23-17 lead in the third game to 23-20, Alvarez delivered a key kill to end the streak, and teammate Cody Bentson later followed with the match-winning kill.
Bentson was starting in place for Jakob Rice, who was sidelined with an Achilles injury and is expected to return next week.
“And Cody stepped up in the middle and played hard,” Richardson said.
The Balers will play at home again on Wednesday night when Wilcox will visit Hollister’s Mattson Gym in a non-conference matchup at 6:30 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3
SEAS 21 23 22
SANB 25 25 25
