Roundups of Mustang golf, field hockey, tennis and
volleyball
…
During all of last season, only once did the Gilroy High girls’ golf team shoot under 200.
The Mustangs have now done it three times in a week.
After sub-200 performances in a pair of victories – one at a TCAL tournament, the other against Monte Vista Christian – Gilroy did it again Tuesday with a 195, which was good enough to hold off four other TCAL opponents at the Salinas Country Club.
San Benito finished second at 203, while host Salinas took third by shooting 204.
“Most of the teams in CCS struggle to get to 200,” GHS head coach Eric Kuwada said. “We’re now doing that consistently, so I’m obviously very pleased.
“It shows how much improvement the girls have made.”
Pacing the Mustangs with a 45, junior Kristen Campos placed second behind Lindsey Shean of Salinas.
Senior Carissa Filice wasn’t far behind at 46, while sophomore Annie Cockerill posted a 51 in just her second tournament with varsity.
“To get scores in the low 50s from a sophomore is pretty darned good,” Kuwada said. “Her scores in the last week have helped tremendously.”
The Mustangs are now set to face off with TCAL power Santa Catalina at the Gilroy Golf Course Thursday. If GHS wants to grab an at-large team spot to the Central Coast Sectionals, performing well against the Cougars is crucial, Kuwada noted.
“It’s a big one … very big,” he said. “Head-to-head competition counts for a lot, and if we play well, we’ll have a leg up.”
Netters fall short in Salinas
On a cool, overcast day, the Gilroy High tennis team came up two tiebreakers short of a victory at North Salinas Tuesday, losing 5-2 to the Vikings.
All three of the Mustangs’ doubles team advanced to tiebreakers, but only the No. 1 pairing of Tasha Loporto and birthday girl Anna Nguyen walked away with a win.
Individually, only the team’s top singles player, senior Jessica Garcia, won her match.
“It just wasn’t our day,” GHS coach Rose Harmon said.
VB notches conference win
Meanwhile, the Gilroy girls’ volleyball team won their first TCAL match of the season with Tuesday’s 3-0 victory at North Salinas (25-17, 25-19, 25-19).
Senior outside hitter Amanda Link continued her solid play with a team-high 17 kills.
“She had a great game,” GHS head coach Sam Navarez said. “She’s been doing extremely well, both offensively and defensively.”
As a team, the Mustangs (8-13) have won four of their last seven after losing nine in a row.
“The kids are coming around,” Navarez said. “Things are starting to come together. I’m looking for the second half of the season to be much more better for us.”
Gilroy is back in action Thursday night with a home match against Live Oak.
Field hockey crushes Carmel
In preparation for today’s second meeting, the Gilroy field hockey team traveled to Carmel Monday and wrecked the Padres, 6-0.
With three goals, senior Elena Ramirez pulled off the hat trick in a runaway victory for the Mustangs (8-2-1/5-0-1 TCAL)
Goals by fellow seniors Nicole Souza and senior Jenelle Perez added to Gilroy’s total, as did the first goal of the season from Andrea Chichester, who received afterward the honorary stick as the team’s player of the game.
At 3:30 this afternoon, Gilroy and Carmel will meet again at GHS.
