Tuesday night’s crosstown matchup signaled the end of the season
for the Christopher High volleyball team, while on the other side
of the net, it meant the beginning of a postseason run for Gilroy
High.
Tuesday night’s crosstown matchup signaled the end of the season for the Christopher High volleyball team, while on the other side of the net, it meant the beginning of a postseason run for Gilroy High.
The Mustangs (19-6 overall, 15-1 Tri-County Athletic League) overpowered a hard-working yet young Cougars squad 25-13, 25-8, 25-18 on Senior Night at GHS.
Up next for GHS, the TCAL Tournament, which will pit the top-two teams from both the Valley and Coastal Divisions of the league against one another to decide which earns the two automatic bids up for grabs into the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The Mustangs (No.1 seed) and San Benito (21-6, 13-3 TCAL) will represent the Valley Division while Monterey (23-10, 16-0) – the No. 1 seed on its side – and Seaside will come out of the Coastal.
The Mustangs will face Seaside and the Toreadors will square off against the Balers. The winners of each match garner the postseason slots and will come together with the league championship at stake. The losers await their fate, which rests in the hands of the selection committee.
“Hopefully we can make a run at it this week,” GHS head coach Scott Martin wrote via text Wednesday.
The tournament begins Thursday at Watsonville High School. GHS hits the floor at 5 p.m.
The Mustangs finished runner-up last season under the old league format. But with the edition of Christopher and Parajo Valley into the league, giving it an even 12 teams, the split was made. This is the first installment of a league tournament.
Tuesday’s all-Gilroy matchup went handily to the Mustangs, who breezed through the first two sets. The Cougars, led by four kills from Connor McConkie and another four from Connor Thompson, made a case for themselves in the third set, sticking with the Mustangs – who made various line up changes – late in the set.
However, following a McConkie service ace to tie the set at 18-all, the Mustangs went on a 7-0 run to end the match.
Dietrich Baumgartner paced the Mustangs with 10 kills, AJ Been posted eight, Robby Filice six, and Gavin Menges, Connor Escobar and Johnny Lester had four kills each.
