The Gilroy volleyball team has been trending upward for a few years now. After a dominant season in the “C” level Blossom Valley Athletic League, West Valley Division, the Mustangs are in the midst of their second straight fine campaign in the “B” level Santa Teresa East Division.
As league play passes the halfway point, Gilroy is 12-10 overall, 5-6 in league action. The Santa Teresa East Division is led by Lincoln and Pioneer, with Willow Glen and Prospect a step back. Gilroy is on the heels of that group. Behind the Mustangs are Yerba Buena, Gunderson and Andrew Hill.
“We have come together this season,” libero Bella Gutierrez said. “Each year, we play stronger.”
Gilroy runs a 6-2 alignment, with setters Brooke Rogers and Bella Rodrigo. That two-setter deployment provides three front-row hitting options at all times.
The attack is diverse and delightfully deep. The outside is led by a group of underclassmen with hard hitting sophomore Sasha Wortham and juniors Ari Urias, Sienna Schwinges and Brianna Sanders. The middle is in the capable hands of Tiara Wortham and Lauren Pulford. Gutierrez leads the defense at libero. Janey Rodriguez Cruz and Nicole Rivera-Sanchez provide depth.
A year ago, Gilroy was strong in league with a 7-3 second-place record, though just 11-21 overall. That followed the 11-1 league mark in 2023 in the lower West Valley Division. Gilroy spent one year at that level after a rough 2022 season in which they were 0-10 in Santa Teresa East competition.
The Mustangs have now risen up to where they are competitive at the “B” level, as the last two years’ cumulative loop mark is 11-8.
“This season has been pretty good, for us,” Urias said. “It was also good last year.”
Co-coaches Sonya Beck and Michael Nguyen complement each other and provide instruction, strategy, support and stability. The Mustangs play quality volleyball, beat a number of good teams and are competitive against the upper-end programs. The days of a 2-22 year (2022) are long gone.
“They trust each other a lot,” coach Beck said. “They have strong serves and they have fire in their belly. We pretty much had all of varsity return. All but three. And we have one new player. I do see improvement and dedication. They communicate better and have more faith in themselves.”
Victories this year have come in league sweeps over Hill twice, Yerba Buena and Gunderson. In non-league play, the Mustangs have beaten Del Mar and Santa Teresa in dual contests, and have picked up tournament wins over North Salinas, Gonzales, Watsonville, Del Mar and Seaside.
Close losses to league powers show the team’s competitiveness. Gilroy fell to Prospect 3-1, to Lincoln 3-1 and 3-2, and to Willow Glen and Pioneer 3-2.
Against Prospect on Sept. 30, the Mustangs lost in four sets. The opening set was 26-24 and with the match tied at a set apiece, the homestanding Panthers took the crucial third set by just 25-23. A few points the other way in either of those two sets would have changed the outcome.
“We did have good energy and our hitters were doing well,” said Rogers, after the match. “They (Prospect) were very scrappy.”
Rodrigo noted that she and Rogers were reading the Prospect net-front defense and looking to move the ball to a hitter away from double blocks, in particular. The Panthers featured some tall and athletic players at the net.
“We were looking for sweet spots,” Urias said. “Deep corner. Reading the block and going around it.”
Individual highlights this year have been many. Sasha Wortham belted 11 kills against Willow Glen, 10 against Pioneer and Hill and nine against Gunderson. Urias had 12 versus Lincoln, nine in the three-set loss to Pioneer and eight in the five-set rematch with them.
Schwinges delivered nine kills against both Willow Glen and Lincoln. Tiara Wortham put down nine against Willow Glen and Sanders killed eight versus Yerba Buena.
Superb serving games included Rodrigo’s seven-ace performance against Hill and five in the three-set Pioneer match.
For the season, Sasha Wortham leads in kills with 104, Urias is close behind at 96 and Tiara Wortham and Schwinges have produced 63 and 62 respectively. Rodriguez has 197 assists, with Rogers at 136. Urias leads in digs at 122, with Schwinges at 117 and Gutierrez and Rodrigo at 105.
Strong serving has been a key to Gilroy’s success. Rodrigo has 38 aces, with Urias at 32, Schwinges at 28 and Gutierrez at 25. In addition to aces, strong serving will keep an opponent out of system.
The last few seasons have been great steps forward for the Gilroy program. The next several weeks will determine the exact record and slot in this year’s league standings. Even with graduations, the future looks bright. In particular, five key contributors are underclassmen. And more contributors are on the horizon.
“We have seven seniors,” Beck said. “They and the others are all nice, really good people. And we have a great JV team with some strong players on it.”
