GILROY — Gilroy’s determination was undeniable Tuesday night.
The Mustangs hung tough against Alisal, but inevidently fell 3-1 at home on Senior Night. It was emotional for Gilroy’s seniors, who were honored before the game, but they held their heads high despite losing 20-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-22 to the Trojans.
“I can’t describe playing my last game at Gilroy High,” senior setter Nicole Green said. “Maybe I’ll come back to coach one day or something, I don’t know. It is kind of sad.”
The Mustangs had to come from behind in each set, going on a 6-point run to tie Game 1 at 15-15, a 4-point run in Game 3 to lead 10-8 and a 5-point rally in the final set to narrow the Trojan’s lead to 18-15.
The offense was led by senior middle hitter Leilani Mah who came up with 10 kills and four blocks in the game. Mah picked up back-to-back kills to give Gilroy an 8-7 lead in Game 3 from which it never looked back.
“Since it was our last home game, I was just like ‘I’m going to go for everything’,” Mah said. “I had to, it’s my last year. I did the best I could for the team.”
Sarah Weiby helped power the Mustangs, coming up with six kills. Bailie Erickson and Jenna Clonts also added five kills a piece. Clonts led the defense with six clutch blocks in the game — including one that scored the final point in Game 2 for Gilroy.
Though Gilroy (4-12 overall, 3-9 in league) will miss the Central Coast Section playoffs, the team still has a shot at ending its season with a win. The Mustangs will play their final game of the season at North Monterey County at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
“Hopefully we win our last game, that would be cool,” Green said. “We haven’t won that many, so it would be awesome to win the last one.”
