GILROY—Cougar Brevin Zollinger was on point for Christopher during Tuesday’s crosstown game with Gilroy.
Zollinger led the Cougars with 14 kills and helped his team win in straight sets 25-19, 25-19, 25-23.
Gilroy took the fight to Christopher, which came in as favorites to win. The Mustangs were neck-and-neck halfway through the first set at 15-all when Christopher stepped on the gas to pull away from them.
The Cougars scored four unanswered points to take control of the set. Christopher increased its lead to six, 22-16, and did not look back.
“We were more competitive today. I mean, this is the cross(town) rival team,” said Gilroy’s Ryan Nguyen.
For the second set, the Cougars came out strong and pulled away fast. They scored seven straight points to erase a 6-6 tie before the Mustangs’ coach Paolo Palao called a timeout.
But that didn’t slow down the Cougars.
Christopher jumped ahead by 10, 24-14, and needed a single point to close out the set. But even with the odds against them, the Mustangs didn’t let up.
Gilroy chipped away at Christopher’s lead behind an ace from Mark Oliveira. It would not be enough though as the Cougars, after giving up five straight points, would close the set.
“It does make it more competitive,” said Christopher’s Alec Menacho on playing the crosstown rival Mustangs. “It’s like we’re playing friends and you just want to be better than them.”
“It was a tough game because it’s Gilroy versus Christopher and they’re true friends,” added Chirstopher Cougar coach Karie Gonzales.
Christopher eased through the third set early, garnering a 20-15 lead over Gilroy. But the Mustangs weren’t about to let Christopher stroll away with the win.
Gilroy scored six straight points to take a 21-20 lead. The Cougars took it right back to jump ahead 24-22, and closed out the set after a Gilroy timeout.
“The boys understood that they had to work for every point. They dug really deep and they got out of a 15-20 hole,” Gilroy coach Palao said.
The win was extra special for some of Christopher’s players who share the court with their Gilroy counterparts on a club team during the offseason.
“It is (special) because I play club volleyball with most of the kids on that team (Gilroy)…we’re all really good friends so we were all excited for this game,” Menacho said.
Menacho finished the night with 10 kills and game-leading five blocks. His teammate Tyler Galloway contributed with 12 kills while senior Bryant Huynh led the Cougars with five service aces.
“We always focus on serves. It’s a 50-50 that they bring it back and it’s a 50-50 that we’ll put it away,” said Gonzales on her team’s great serving ability lead by Huynh.
A slew of Mustangs contributed to their team’s effort against Christopher. Nguyen led his team with six kills and added two services aces and a block.
Mark Oliveira led on defense with five blocks and five kills. Arizona Trujillo had three aces, while Eric Heiser finished with three kills and four blocks. Kade McDermott also chipped in with three kills, two aces and two blocks.
“They played the best volleyball I’ve seen them play,” Mustangs coach Palao said.
