The best medicine for healing the wounds of a loss is to come
out the next time and play better, fix the mistakes and win.
After a three-set defeat at Mt. Madonna last Friday, the Gilroy
High girls varsity volleyball team regrouped to capture a 25-22,
29-27, 25-13 victory over Santa Clara in Gilroy on Tuesday
night.
GILROY – The best medicine for healing the wounds of a loss is to come out the next time and play better, fix the mistakes and win.
After a three-set defeat at Mt. Madonna last Friday, the Gilroy High girls varsity volleyball team regrouped to capture a 25-22, 29-27, 25-13 victory over Santa Clara in Gilroy on Tuesday night.
“The back-row passing was phenomenal,” said first-year head coach Josh Corioso. “They were spot on. They were digging balls that they weren’t getting to last week.”
The Mustangs controlled the tempo throughout much of the opening set, getting strong serves from senior Lindsay Meazell and Laura Moore, and some heavy spikes from Avry Walker to build an early lead at 5-2. Both teams traded kills to a 17-17 tie before the Mustangs diligently finished the set on top.
“We meshed a lot better tonight,” Meazell said. “But we can still do a lot better.”
Arguably the most entertaining set of the match followed. Highlighted by a number of scramble plays and seven ties, the Mustangs and Bruins treated the fans on hand with some hard-fought volleyball action.
The Mustangs fell behind early as the Bruins began to pick away at the Mustangs with soft tip-shots that seemed to find every open spot on the floor where no Mustangs defender could reach.
However, knotted at 13 apiece, the Mustangs won eight of the next 12 points and looked as though they would run away with the set. But as it does many times during a volleyball match, the momentum shifted and the Bruins once again seemed unstoppable.
The Mustangs fought off two match points and eventually secured the win.
“Once we get a team down, we have to keep them down,” Corioso said. “We can’t get too cocky. We have to keep pressing forward and just put them away while we have them down.”
Riding high after its second-set triumph, GHS made easy work of the third set, using two runs of 8-0 and 5-0 to jump ahead by as many as 13 late in the set.
“I don’t think they’ve had coaching like this before,” Corioso said. “I’m up all the time. I’m hyper and high intensity, and I try to pass that along to the players. They are getting used to that. We are looking really good.”
The Mustangs travel down the coast and take on Monterey tonight.
