GILROY—Gilroy’s Ryan Nguyen did his best to force a fourth set against Wilcox, but the Mustangs came up just short.
Gilroy lost to the Chargers in straight sets 16-25, 16-25, 21-25 Tuesday at home.
Harsharanveer Singh-took led Wilcox to control the game from the first serve and did not allow Gilroy to lead until the third set. The Mustangs led the Chargers 16-13 before Wilcox scored six unanswered points, taking the lead to close out game.
“Our biggest issue still as a team is understanding holding a lead and not losing it,” said Gilroy coach Paolo Palao.
The Mustangs had several opportunities to score points in the first set off blocks from Mark Oliveira and Kade McDermott, but Wilcox held them off and managed to turn the play around each time in its team’s favor.
But the Mustangs didn’t go down easily.
Despite trailing by nine points in the first set, 9-18, the Mustangs kept fighting and strung together six unanswered points to keep themselves in the game. The Chargers responded with four straight points to close out the set.
“We’re still a fairly new team; (we’re) still learning. It’s a process,” Nguyen said.
The second set almost mirrored the first. Poor communication cost the Mustangs points and the first play was a perfect example. Arizona Trujillo dug out the ball, but his teammates let the play fall flat due to confusion over who the set-up man would be.
“A big thing we’re trying to figure out in practice is communicating,” the Mustang coach said, “The team that talks the most will win.”
Nguyen added: “The communication is a problem in our team. We’re still working on (fixing) that.”
Gilroy changed tactics in Set 3. It utilized its main playmaker, Nguyen, more often. He took charge of the Mustangs’ scoring with his powerful swing, but added a subtle touch when needed.
“We tried to fix the coverage, fix our backing,” Nguyen said. “…and get in position as quick as we can to stop any attack by their offense.”
The Chargers were caught off caught and gave up an early 3-0 lead. Wilcox kept up with the Mustangs and would not allow them a sizable lead. The biggest one Gilroy managed was by three points during the third set. Wilcox adjusted to the Mustangs’ aggressiveness. It took the lead and didn’t look back.
The Mustangs now stand at 2-8 in league and 3-10 overall. They will take on the Spartans at 6:30 p.m. April 9 at Gonzales High School.
