Mustang spikers solve early lapse to pull of three-game sweep
of
Chieftains.
GILROY – After snoozing to a 10-point deficit in the first game of Wednesday’s home match against Palma, the Gilroy High boys volleyball team suddenly awoke and went on a 12-0 run en route to a stunning 16-14, 15-8, 15-5 league victory.
“They woke up,” co-head coach Jay Baksa said. “The last two games, we showed the way we can play the game. In sports there is going to be ups and downs. When you have those downs, you still have to win and can’t let it slip by.”
The Mustang spikers (6-1 in T-CAL, 14-8 overall) fought through their sluggish start and every steadily picked apart the Chieftains.
“It took a while for us to get back in our game groove,” said senior hitter John Bowe, who finished with seven kills. “It took a while to get our heads ready. We decided to pull back and then we started getting momentum.”
A 14-4 deficit was quickly turned around with senior Daniel Cabrera serving for seven straight points. Seniors Josh Gravell (five blocks for kills) and Scott Martin (team-high 11 kills) each put down a pair of kills during the run.
Gilroy then crept to within one at 14-13, as senior setter Matt Largo (12 assists, 25-of-26 serving) bumped the ball that trickled down the net and eventually rolled over to the Palma side. Following four straight side-outs, Gravell went to the service line and finished things off with a pair of Palma errors and junior Kyle Loving’s kill at the net accounting for the points.
“We started playing our game and took care of it,” Bowe said. “We were expecting (Palma) to be pretty good.”
Senior hitter Jason Medenceles tallied eight kills and six digs, while senior setter Tucker Baksa registered 12 assists.
“The thing we’re happy with is we’re down 11-3 and everyone is yelling at each other – coaches at kids, kids at coaches and kids at kids. They settled themselves down, came out and took care of business,” said co-head coach Craig Martin. “Our seniors didn’t give up. They stayed with it and played our game.”
The Mustangs battled with Palma early in the second game as the teams were knotted at 4-4 before the locals went on an 8-0 run to claim a comfortable 12-4 advantage. Largo kept the rhythm with great service throughout the rally. After the Chieftains cut the gap to four, Gilroy closed the match out with Largo at the line once again.
In game-three, Gilroy was running at full speed and jumped out to leads of 9-1 and 12-3 before sailing to a 10-point victory.
Up next, the Mustangs will play host Friday to Salinas at 5:30 p.m.
