GHS spikers slam Pioneer, Sacred Heart
GILROY – Despite losing two setters to injury before its first pre-season battle, the Gilroy High boys volleyball team won back-to-back matches last week against Pioneer and Sacred Heart.
First, junior setter Jay Ahumada broke his ankle in the offseason. So head coach Craig Martin decided to bring up sophomore setter Patrick Largo from the junior varsity to back up his older brother, senior setter Matt Largo.
But then Patrick Largo was sidelined when he suffered a cut on his finger trying to block teammate Jason Medenceles’ spike during Wednesday’s practice – one day before Pioneer came to town.
So the setter duties were shifted once again with senior defensive specialist Tucker Baksa sharing the job with Matt Largo.
It did not matter who was setting the ball up for Gilroy though with outside hitters Scott Martin and Medenceles bringing down the pain to lead the Mustangs over Pioneer, 15-10, 15-1, 15-6, on Thursday, and Sacred Heart, 15-2, 15-9, 15-9, on Friday.
Martin led with 13 kills in the opener and Medenceles added seven kills, while Medenceles registered a team-high nine kills in the win over Sacred Heart.
As for the setting, Matt Largo recorded 13 assists and Baksa tallied 12 assists in the win over Pioneer. Largo then led the way with 12 assists versus Sacred Heart.
Martin served for 12 straight points to end game-one against Sacred Heart. As a team, the Mustangs put in 56 of 57 serves in the victory over Pioneer.
“We played some great defense. We just need to work on our blocking,” Coach Martin said. “We played Pioneer last year’s BVAL B Division Champions and we beat them pretty easily… We are flat just killing the ball.”
Gilroy (2-0) faces an early, but critical challenge Tuesday against defending CCS Champion Mount Madonna – which has swept the Mustang spikers the last four years.
“We like having this early, especially after a couple of wins,” said Coach Martin of playing Mount Madonna. “They lost some strong seniors, but they still are a strong team. It’s a good gauge for us because they’re just a good program. It will be good test for us.”
