Senior Night wasn’t the sweet sendoff Gilroy High’s varsity
girls volleyball team had in mind.
Taking on the visiting Alisal Trojans Tuesday night, Gilroy was
forced to settle for a five-set defeat that slipped through the
Mustangs’ grasp after winning the first two sets.
GILROY – Senior Night wasn’t the sweet sendoff Gilroy High’s varsity girls volleyball team had in mind.
Taking on the visiting Alisal Trojans Tuesday night, Gilroy was forced to settle for a five-set defeat that slipped through the Mustangs’ grasp after winning the first two sets.
The 25-23, 25-16, 20-25, 17-25, 16-18 loss puts Gilroy’s hopes of qualifying for the Central Coast Section playoffs in serious jeopardy. The Mustangs (11-14 overall, 4-6 league) have lost their last three matches and will need to win at San Benito on Thursday and at North Salinas on Tuesday to have a .500 record in the Tri-County Athletic League.
Anything less and Gilroy won’t have a chance at CCS.
“I just never know how they’re going to play,” Gilroy coach Sue Grogan said after her team gave away two match points in the final set. “I told them before this match that we need to finish strong.”
Mental mistakes hampered Gilroy’s comeback attempts in each of the final three games, helping Alisal win just its fifth match of the season. The Trojans are now 2–6 in the TCAL, 5-10 overall.
The intensity picked up substantially in the final frame, as the Alisal junior varsity squad competed with Gilroy’s fans to make more noise in the stands.
A quick tip by Lindsay Meazell (15 assists) on the Mustangs’ second touch gave Gilroy a 15-14 advantage and match point. Alisal knotted up the game on a kill before giving Gilroy another opportunity to win following a spike that went wide.
The one-point lead was quickly reversed, though, on kills by Esther Rico and Maria Lopez. A long serve that caused two Mustangs to compete for the same ball and unable to make a return was the clincher.
Gilroy was led by juniors Avrielle Walker (11 kills, 10 digs), Melissa Avila (8 kills, 6 digs), Lindsey Foster (8 kills) and Loryn Ferreira (7 kills). The Mustangs’ lone senior, libero Jasmine Perez, finished with a team-high 15 digs.
While Grogan said she wasn’t pleased with the mental errors her team committed, she added that it was important to shake off the loss and move forward.
“We’ve got some important games coming up,” she said.
Gilroy’s second to last match of the regular season will be Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Hollister.
