After a year absence from postseason play, the Gilroy High girls
volleyball team made a successful return to the Central Coast
Section playoff stage with a first-round three-game sweep of No. 10
seed Watsonville 25-16, 25-21, 25-21 on Wednesday night in
Gilroy.
GILROY – After a year absence from postseason play, the Gilroy High girls volleyball team made a successful return to the Central Coast Section playoff stage with a first-round three-game sweep of No. 10-seed Watsonville 25-16, 25-21, 25-21 on Wednesday night in Gilroy.
The Mustangs, who are the No. 7 seed in the Division 1 bracket, advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2003 and will play No. 2 Menlo Atherton out of Palo Alto on Saturday in Watsonville.
The Mustangs shook off some early unforced errors in the first set and soon settled into their game, eventually overwhelming a feisty Wildcats team.
“It was a whole adrenaline thing. It’s a CCS game and of course they are going to have their jitters,” first-year head coach Josh Corioso said. “They came out of it real quick and overcame that.”
Gilroy was without senior Loryn Ferreira, the team’s captain and most versatile player on the court. However, the Mustangs received key contributions up and down the lineup as eight players registered at least one kill on the night.
“I think we played aggressively,” libero Gabby Flores said. “We got all our serves in and showed them what we could do.”
Flores roamed, wandered and hustled from line to line, collecting 19 digs along the way.
“She did a great job in the back row,” Corioso said.
Senior outside hitter Melissa Avila set the tone for the Mustangs with kills on three of the first four points to open up the first set.
With the set still close at 8-7, middle blockers Sarah Una’Dia and Lindsey Foster helped the Mustangs kick start a dominating 10-2 run to open up a clear path to the set victory.
“It was the whole playoff atmosphere that made want to play hard,” Una’Dia said.
Foster finished with six kills and Una’Dia shared the team-high mark of seven kills with Avila.
“Having so many hitters it puts a threat in so many different areas,” Corioso said. “It makes it a whole lot harder for the other team to figure out where we are going to set the ball.”
The Mustangs continued to rotate players in and out with Corioso constantly finding the right blend of bodies of the court. Gilroy never trailed during the second set, leading by as many as 11 points at two different junctures of the set. The Wildcats made it interesting coming to within three at 24-21, but after a momentum-killing timeout by the Mustangs, Una’Dia secured the final point with her third kill of the set.
The Wildcats managed to take their first lead of the match at 3-2 of the third set, however, it was short lived. The Mustangs regained the upper hand two points later and fought through a well contested set to put the finishing touches on the sweep.
“We all played together tonight,” said senior setter Erin O’Riley, who had 16 assists in the win. “Maybe we realized it was CCS, I don’t know, we just played awesome.”
Lindsay Meazell had a team-high 19 assists. Shawnie Hewell finished with five kills and DeMornay Granado had three.
Menlo Atherton earned a free pass into the quarterfinals after earning a first-round bye with a 19-7 overall record. Its 12-3 league mark was good enough for a second place finish in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division.
Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first serve at Watsonville High School.
