Gilroy High’s girls volleyball falls to Salinas, boys and girls
water polo whip Watsonville, and girls tennis drops six of seven to
Cowboys
GILROY – Gilroy’s varsity girls volleyball team kept it close in each game against the visiting Salinas Cowboys Thursday night, but the result was still a three-set defeat, 21-25, 21-25, 23-25.
Gilroy had its moments, but also had its fair share of mistakes. The Mustangs had 23 kills but were limited by 13 hitting errors. Similarly, Gilroy had a solid 30 service points, including seven aces, but it also committed eight service errors.
“I am trying to keep the girls [focused] on volleyball,” Gilroy coach Sue Grogan said. “It is a challenge of coaches at the end of a season to keep their minds on the sport they are playing.
“I have challenged them to just be focused.”
Results from Monday’s make-up game against Notre Dame were unavailable as of press time.
Girls water polo
Gilroy High’s varsity girls water polo team followed a close victory at Carmel on Thursday with a lopsided win at Watsonville on Monday, pushing the Mustangs record to 6-1 in the Tri-County Athletic League.
Edging the Padres 6-5 last week, Gilroy rallied after being down 5-3 with a little over three minutes remaining. Sophomore Chelsea Hill scored on a 5-meter penalty at the 3:10 mark, and sent the game to overtime by scoring with 50 seconds left.
Junior Alana Osaki then netted the game-winner in the final overtime period.
“The most important thing is we were able to pull out that game,” Gilroy coach Sean La Guardia said. “I think that’s a sign of a strong team, when you come from behind.”
Maegan Collett and Alyssa Rothenberg both had a goal in the game, while Lauren Van Herk had 11 saves to keep Gilroy in the game.
The momentum certainly carried over to the Mustangs’ next contest, a 15-6 win at Watsonville, in which 10 different players scored.
Michelle Shields, Bianca Catanzaro, Nicole Nelsen, Leah Ailes, and Francesca Comin all had two goals, while Marla Tomorug, Osaki, Rothenberg, Collett, and Hill scored one each.
“We decided early on we wanted to pass the ball and gave people the opportunity to [score],” La Guardia said.
Gilroy, now 9-3 overall, will play Salinas on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Cal-State Monterey Bay.
Boys water polo
Gilroy’s varsity boys water polo team returned home from Watsonville Monday with a 13-7 victory, the first for the Mustangs in several weeks.
“It wasn’t the cleanest game,” Gilroy coach Tom Clark said. “Our speed basically won it for us.”
Michael Shields and Eddie Malick were Gilroy’s leading scorers in the contest.
The win followed a 12-3 defeat at Carmel on Thursday. Despite the defeat, Clark thought his squad performed quite well.
“That was actually one of our best games of the year, even though they won by that margin,” he said. “It was closer than that final score.”
Gilroy’s goals were netted by Shields, Malick and Cameron Brown.
Girls tennis
Gilroy’s varsity girls tennis team couldn’t hold serve at home against Salinas Thursday, losing six of seven matches.
Alissa Castro, the Mustangs’ No. 4 singles player, scored the lone victory for Gilroy, taking her match with Kaylee Siegel 5-7, 6-4, 10-6. The GHS No. 1 doubles pairing of Holly Hunter and Kim Johnson suffered the closest defeat of the six, falling short in a third-set tiebreaker 5-10 to Kristen Shimigu and Audra Bell. Hunter and Johnson won the first set 6-2 before losing the second set 6-1.
Gilroy’s final home match of the season is today at 4 p.m. against Alisal.
Singles
#1 Meha Munshi lost to Taryn Andrews 0-6, 0-6
#2 Emily Castro lost to Teagan Seely 1-6, 2-6
#3 Jennifer Kwong lost to Katie Gibbons 1-6, 1-6
#4 Alissa Castro beat Kaylee Siegel 5-7, 6-4 10-6
Doubles
#1 Holly Hunter/Kim Johnson lost to Kristen Shimigu/Audra Bell 6-2, 1-6, 5-10
#2 Melanie Morelos/Ashley Nguyen lost to Julia/Shelby Naber 2-6, 1-6
#3 Cristina Carrillo/Viviana Mendez lost to Jaymie Maldonaldo/Kiley Knoles-Barnett 0-6, 3-6
