No. 8 Gilroy loses in five games to No. 9 Andrew Hill
Gilroy – Gilroy was two points from advancing in the Central Coast Section Division 1 championships when Vanessa Wilkins leaped high for a kill.
Her shot was blocked by Eleonor Concepcion and the ball landed well within the court and out of reach of any Mustang.
That shot seemed to energize Andrew Hill and started the Falcons on a comeback that ended with a 25-20, 13-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-12 triumph before a boisterous crowd at Bob Hagen Gymnasium.
“Her specialty is blocking,” Hill coach Matt Sandora said of Concepcion. “She came through with a huge play. If we had any chance of blocking that girl (Wilkins), it was (La).”
The Falcons’ reward is a second-round matchup with No. 1 Hollister 11am Saturday at North Salinas. The Mustangs, meanwhile, completed a 16-16 season.
“This is the second time in history that we made CCS,” Hill coach Matt Sandora said. “Our idea was to play and have fun. When (Wilkins) came in the second game we seemed to play a little scared. But we were able to come back and beat them.”
The defensive-tough Falcons (18-14), perhaps the shortest team Gilroy faced all season, seemed to dig every ball in sight. Libero Tiffany Gonsalves had 30 digs and Tina Truong added 26 more. Meanwhile, 5-3 opposite Kim La had 14 kills and two aces among her five straight service winners when Hill made its fourth-game comeback.
The Falcons got off to a good start in winning the first game, but GHS showed flashes of brilliance in dominating games 2 and 3. The digging, led by Caitlin Chisolm with 19, was solid, the passing from the back row to the front was crisp and Jennifer Smith (18 assists) was setting up Kayla Meazell and Wilkins for easy kills.
And then came crucial game 4. Smith served two aces as the Mustangs jumped ahead 3-0. They extended the lead to 19-12 on a Meazell kill and seemed to be totally in control.
After Hill got one point back, La, their best server, went to work. It was 19-18 before GHS got another point, and then it went back and forth until Concepcion’s block fired up the Falcons.
Hill got the first two points of the fifth game before Wilkins and Meazell dominated the next five points for a 5-2 GHS lead. And then the Mustangs seemed to slip into a defensive mode against a team that made its living all season playing defense.
“It seemed like we held back a little (in game 5),” GHS coach Sue Grogan said. “We were playing a little more safe.
“The main thing is they were digging all the balls. We were told that’s how they played. They also had a left-handed (La) hitter and we haven’t had to face many of them. They were all strong servers. We just gave up a lot of points with our errors.”
Wilkins had a huge game with 17 points, seven digs and 12 service winners. Meazell, one of two seniors, closed out her career with 12 kills and 11 digs.
“Their defense was amazing,” Meazell said of Hill. “They picked up pretty much everything. (La) has an amazing vertical (leap).”
