As bad as things went Thursday against rival Hollister, when
Gilroy’s boys volleyball team suffered its first defeat of the
season in three sets, the Mustangs showed a resiliency over the
weekend that has coach Scott Martin thinking his team will be able
to bounce back just fine.
SAN JOSE – As bad as things went Thursday against rival Hollister, when Gilroy’s boys volleyball team suffered its first defeat of the season in three sets, the Mustangs showed a resiliency over the weekend that has coach Scott Martin thinking his team will be able to bounce back just fine.
Losing to the Haybalers 25-15, 25-21, 25-13, Gilroy got back on the court Saturday to go 3-2 at the Charger Classic held at Leland High School in San Jose.
“We took a little lickin’ there (Thursday), but hopefully [the tournament] is gonna help us build a little character after coming back and not folding up shop,” Martin said.
The anticipation of facing their rivals on Thursday may have worked against the Mustangs (11-3), who were 8-0 entering the contest.
“I kind of feel like we were so pumped up coming into the match we were playing on adrenaline, which isn’t good for us,” Martin said.
Nerves resulted in unforced errors and mistakes in communication, eventually boiling over to frustration in the third set after the club fell just short of winning the second game.
“The third game we were just mentally done,” Martin said. “I kind of feel like we had spent everything we had to win that second game. And when we still didn’t win it … they were mentally drained, physically drained.”
Greg Calimpong had 31 assists for Gilroy, but the Mustangs only had one player – Thomas Costa – reach double figures in kills with 10.
“I was worried that this starts a downward spiral for the season because we had never lost and we lost so bad,” Martin said.
Instead, the Mustangs responded by beating Harbor and Saratoga in the first two games of pool play at Saturday’s tournament, before falling to a talented Serra team in a match decided by the best of three sets. Matches usually require a team to win three out of five.
Gilroy then went on to beat Tri-County Athletic League rival Monterey once the tournament went to a playoff format. The Mustangs advanced to play Homestead, a team Martin called “a favorite” to win a Central Coast Section title.
The final game wasn’t a gimme for Homestead, which needed a unique tiebreaker rule to win 25-10, 27-26. Matches normally must be won by two points if a game goes past the regulated 25. Due to time constraints and the number of games played, however, the tournament rules forced the game to be won by the first team to reach 27.
“They played absolutely amazing,” Martin said of his players in the final match. “They were having fun, everyone was laughing, smiling. We understood this team was way above us talent-wise but we were out playing volleyball and just having fun.”
The coach said he hopes to see that carry over to the rest of the season.
“We just need to go out have fun and enjoy playing volleyball,” he said.
Gilroy will be back on the court tonight at 6:30 p.m. when it plays at Watsonville.
