There was no huge comeback this time. While Gilroy faltered in
the third game like it had when it met Alisal the first time, the
Mustangs recovered to stave off the Trojans 25-23, 25-16, 27-29,
25-23 at Bob Hagen Memorial Gym to gain arguably their biggest win
of the season.
There was no huge comeback this time.
While Gilroy faltered in the third game like it had when it met Alisal the first time, the Mustangs recovered to stave off the Trojans 25-23, 25-16, 27-29, 25-23 at Bob Hagen Memorial Gym to gain arguably their biggest win of the season.
“The difference is we’ve grown together as a team,” said junior Kevin Bruce, who had 19 kills and three blocks to lead Gilroy. “We were swinging (at the ball) instead of tipping. We fell asleep in the third game but were able to right things in the fourth.”
It came against an Alisal team that beat GHS earlier in the season and was in third place entering the match. The Mustangs came out firing on all cylinders, controlling play at the net behind Bruce and doing an excellent job in the back row led by libero Mike Leininger, who had 25 digs, to take the first two games.
“We came out smoking,” Bruce said. “In the third game we got a little cocky. We weren’t playing as hard as we had in the first two games. And yet, we knew what happened the last time we played them when we won the first two games and they won the next three.”
Gilroy fell behind 13-6 in the third game, and then rallied as Bruce had three kills and Thomas Costa served five straight points to take a 17-13 lead. The Mustangs increased the margin to 21-15, and were a point away from finishing the match in the third game on three occasions before falling.
With Daniel Rico serving two aces, the Trojans (10-14, 6-3) jumped on top 6-1 in the fourth game. Two Sean O’Neill kills in a five-point rally gave Gilroy a 15-10 lead. But Alisal again came on strong to take a 22-19 lead on a kill by Dagoberto Jiminez before the Mustangs scored six of the final seven points of the match.
“We’re finding what we need to get the job done,” GHS coach Sue Grogan said. “The tournament Saturday (San Francisco Invitational) helped us a lot. I gave them things to think about. We were working more on the mental aspects of the game.”
Gilroy hosts the TCAL’s top team at 6:30pm Thursday when Monterey visits Hagen Gym.
