Gilroy water polo has one more chance to make playoffs, tennis
and volleyball teams end seasons
CARMEL – Gilroy’s girls water polo team couldn’t close the deal Thursday night in Carmel, losing 13-6 to Robert Louis Stevenson.
Luckily for the Mustangs, they have another shot to make the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Gilroy will face the loser of Salinas and Carmel – which play each other today – on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Watsonville High School. A win in that game would give Gilroy (10-5) third-place in the Tri-County Athletic League tournament, which is good enough to qualify for CCS, something Gilroy has never done in program history.
“They were just a better team at the end of the season,” Gilroy coach Sean La Guardia said of RLS. “But our girls played their hearts out. They played really hard all 28 minutes and I couldn’t really ask for anything else in terms of effort.”
La Guardia is hoping that effort carries over to Saturday.
Chelsea Hill led the Mustangs with five goals, and Meagan Collett added one.
Gilroy beat visiting Monterey 12-6 Tuesday in the first round of TCALs.
Nicole Nelsen led the Mustangs with three goals, Alana Osaki, Bianca Catanzaro and Meagen Collett scored two, and Chelsea Hill, Alex Marshall and Michelle Shields each netted one.
Girls tennis
Gilroy’s varsity girls tennis team sent five seniors and one junior to the Tri-County Athletic League Championships held in Salinas earlier this week, and scored victories on both the singles’ and doubles’ sides despite missing several top players.
No. 1 singles player Meha Munshi won her first match 6-0, 6-0 over Janeillyn Mina of North Salinas, but Munshi had a tough draw in the second round, falling to Teagan Selley of Slainas in straight sets 0-6, 1-6. Selley went on to win the tournament.
Monica Liu, Gilroy’s No. 2, also split her two matches, beating Renee Musgroove of North Salinas 6-7, 6-1, 10-5 before losing to Babette Castro of Everett Alvarez in a third-set tiebreaker (3-6, 6-3, 6-10.)
“Monica had her chances but came up a little short and her opponent Babette was playing very well,” Gilroy coach Jami Reynolds said.
No. 1 doubles partners Holly Hunter and Kim Johnson had a tough first-round draw against Notre Dame. The pair put up a good fight but lost 6-7, 6-2, 7-10.
Cristina Carrillo and Viviana Mendez, No. 2 doubles partners, kept Gilroy a perfect 3-0 against North Salinas opponents by winning their first match 6-3, 6-2, but lost to the eventual champions – Amanda Marshall and Abbey Woodsof San Benito – in the second round 2-6, 0-6.
Reynolds thought her players had a tough draw in certain cases, and liked what she saw in terms of effort.
“I look forward to next year already,” she said.
Girls volleyball
Gilroy’s varsity girls volleyball team lost its last two matches of the season to finish 11-16 overall, 4-8 in the Tri-County Athletic League
The Mustangs had hopes of making the Central Coast Section playoffs with a strong finish, but losses at San Benito and then at North Salinas, both in straight sets, eliminated them from playoff consideration.
