Ahumada tallies 21 assists, 6 kills in GHS boys v-ball’s
four-game win over Salinas
GILROY – Senior Jason Ahumada was expected to be the starting setter for the Mustang spikers last season, but he broke his ankle to end his junior campaign before it even got started.
Ahumada is now fully recovered and doing everything his coaches thought he would one year earlier – distributing the ball around to all of his teammates.
“The thing I like is Jay distributing the ball to everyone,” head coach Craig Martin said. “Last year, we were more one-dimensional.”
In Wednesday’s league opener at Gilroy High, Ahumada recorded a team-high 21 assists to go along with his six kills to lead the boys varsity volleyball team to a four-game match victory over Salinas.
“We’re only getting started,” said Ahumada, who has been long waiting for his chance to step on the hard court again. “This was our first league game and I’m anticipating more wins.”
The Mustangs (1-0 in T-CAL, 3-4 overall) won the first two games by identical scores of 25-21 and, after dropping the third game by the same margin, clinched victory with a 25-19 nod.
“I think we did pretty good. We need to concentrate more like we did in the first two games (but) all around, we did pretty good,” Ahumada said. “I think we have the potential to go all the way.”
Ahumada’s unselfish play resulted in a balanced Gilroy attack, which included a team-high nine kills from senior hitter Kyle Loving, six kills from sophomore Ryan Dickerson, five kills from sophomore Vinny DeLorenzo, and four kills from senior Ankoon Pothong.
“It’s a good start. For now, we build on each win,” Martin said. “We’re so young. You could see our inexperience out there. It kills us sometimes.”
But the athleticism of the garlic rotation overcame their inexperience, which becomes less and less a factor as the season goes along.
Up next on their Tri-County Athletic League schedule, the Mustangs will host Hollister on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
After clinching the opening-game victory, the Mustangs fell behind by three at the start of the second game. But they quickly tied the score up with three straight points, only to fall behind by two again. The game see-sawed back and forth with Gilroy making a run to tie and then Salinas inching ahead again. There were eight tie scores before Gilroy turned it on down the stretch.
In game-three, Gilroy fell behind early once more with the Cowboys off to a 5-1 start. After coming within one of tying four separate times, the Mustangs evened things at 20-20. Salinas, however, was the team to finish strong, stealing a four-point victory and forcing a fourth game.
Determined not to reach a fifth rally game, Gilroy returned to its winning form in the fourth game, jumping out to an 8-2 advantage. Salinas cut the gap to as few as two, but the Mustangs never relinquished their lead, pulling ahead by seven at 18-11. With the Cowboys hanging by a thread, DeLorenzo served up a match-clinching ace to end the night.
