GHS Field Hockey, Volleyball Come Off Victorious at Home
Gilroy – When mild injuries from a car accident put Gilroy High outside hitter Jessica Groppe on the bench for a few days a couple weeks ago, the senior spent a lot of time analyzing what was going on on the volleyball court without her.
When she returned, Groppe put what she learned into practice. Since then, she’s been a different player and Monday’s game against Sobrato was no different.
“Sitting on the bench made me really miss it,” she said. “I wanted to try harder (when I got back).”
Groppe’s 10 kills led the Mustangs to their second TCAL win against Sobrato, 25-10, 25-12, 25-17, in the first meeting between the two teams.
The win helped Gilroy improve to 4-13 overall and 2-4 in TCAL.
“It was about due for the girls to win a game, especially with losing to Salinas and Hollister coming up (Wednesday),” said Gilroy head coach Sue Grogan.
Gilroy controlled the young and inexperienced Sobrato squad, which struggled to get into any kind of offensive rhythm for most of the match, but did keep things competitive in the third game. At one point, Gilroy had an 8-point lead. But Sobrato cut the lead to 18-14 on a couple Mustang errors, an ace serve and a kill by middle Jordyn Hanne that went off the top of the net and dropped onto Gilroy’s side of the net.
But Gilroy held the Bulldogs to just three more points for the rest of the game. Groppe scored three of Gilroy’s final five points on two kills and a block for kill.
“I snap my wrist now when I hit and it’s like magic,” Groppe said.
Several Mustangs contributed in the match, including sophomore Vanessa Wilkins (4 kills, 3 down blocks), junior Kayla Meazell (4 kills), sophomore Caitlin Chisolm (2 kills), senior Sara Griffis (2 kills) and junior Carlie Kennedy (2 kills). Senior setters Katherine Hussey and Jennifer Smith each had 13 assists.
Next up for the Mustangs is league leader San Benito. The two teams play each other at 6:30pm Wednesday in Hollister.
Gilroy lost in the previous meeting between the two teams, but Grogan thinks her team will be able to put up a stronger fight the second time around.
“I think they’re further along mentally now than before,” she said. “We should have a pretty good stab at it.”
Field Hockey
In one of its better passing games of the season Tuesday, the Gilroy field hockey team beat Monterey 7-0.
The win increased the team’s MTAL record to 7-0 and overall record to 8-1-1.
After the first half, Gilroy led 4-0 on goals from Karlie Sandoval, Kelly Perkins (also the Player of the Game), Jackie Moreno and Rushelle Preeshl.
But Sandoval’s slick unassisted goal was the highlight. The senior brought the ball from the right side and reverse lifted it over the goalie’s stick for the goal.
“Everyone was like ‘Oooh, I want to see that one again on video tape,” said Gilroy co-head coach Adam Gemar. “She’s definitely the best stick handler in tight spaces. She uses that to her advantage in the circle. A lot of times, she’ll go one direction and pop back on her backhand.”
In the second half, Dana Schoeneman (assisted by Erin Magill, Sandoval) scored on a short corner. Amanda Vasquez and Amanda Spellman scored the final two Gilroy goals unassisted.
Gilroy didn’t allow Monterey a shot on goal and outshot the Toreadors 24-0.
The Mustangs host the league’s second-place team, Stevenson, Thursday at 4pm before taking on CCS powerhouse Saint Francis Friday.
