Coyotes are no match for Bears
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Lilly Ascencio tries to put down a kill against Buchanan on Tuesday.
In just its second match of the season, the Madera Coyotes girls volleyball team faced one of the top teams in the section and came away with a 3-0 loss in Joe Flores Gym to the Buchanan-Clovis Bears.
The Coyotes, who advanced to the Div. II quarterfinals last year, couldn’t mount much of an offense against the Div. I Bears. Madera scored 49 points in the three-set loss, including 21 in the first two sets.
“When we pass and serve receive and actually got a swing, we did fine,” head coach Meghan Haas said. “That was kind of the gameplan going in. I told them we’re going to have to play well in serve receive if we are going to have a chance to win. We didn’t pass and serve receive very well.”
The Coyotes only put down seven kills in the set. The Bears helped Madera’s scoring by committing 19 service errors.
“We were definitely intimidated by their size,” Haas said. “We have some young girls and inexperience. They also ran a bunch of different things against us. It’s a faster game and tougher for us to keep up.”
After defeating Minarets on Thursday, the Coyotes will next host Golden Valley High School from Merced on Tuesday before playing in Golden Valley’s tournament Friday and Saturday.
The Bears forced the Coyotes into five errors to score the first six points of the first set. One of the lone bright spots was Hallie Page putting down three side out kills.
Unfortunately, the Coyotes couldn’t overcome 16 errors, including five ace serves for a 25-12 loss.
In the second set, Buchanan recorded an ace and then put down four kills in the next five points to open an 8-0 lead.
Madera’s first point came on a Buchanan service error and Page added another point with a kill.
Although the Coyotes committed less errors (11), the Bears recorded more kills (7) in a 25-9 victory that included three aces, including one on set point.
The Coyotes took a lead in the third set. After both teams combined for four straight service errors, Lexi Carmona served up a point for a 5-2 lead.
Buchanan tied the score at five and the teams battled to tie at seven and eight before the Bears recorded a kill and an ace for a 10-9 lead.
Katelyn Siegl went back to serve and Buchanan hit out of bounds on three straight points with Madera taking a 14-12 lead on six straight points.
Buchanan came back with a kill and an ace during a five-point run for a 17-15 lead.
After a trade in service errors, Buchanan got another kill and ace to open a 21-16 lead.
The Coyotes got two points off another service error and a point from Priscilla Torres to cut the lead to 17-22. Buchanan recorded a kill and ace before a service error gave the Coyotes the serve.
However, Madera gave the serve back with its fourth service error of the set.
Buchanan closed the match with an ace for a 25-18 victory.
