Coyotes get win over Stallions
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Hallie Page (8) and Alicia Velasco (4) goes up for a block against Madera South during Tuesday’s 3-0 victory to close out the first round of the County/Metro Athletic Conference.
In a match of pendulum swings, the Madera Coyotes girls volleyball team had enough swings go its way in a 3-0 victory over cross-town rivals Madera South in Joe Flores Gym.
The Stallions battled the Coyotes close in all three matches Tuesday, but Madera came away with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 victory to close out the first half of County/Metro Athletic Conference play with a 3-2 record.
“It was kind of grinding out a win,” Madera head coach Meghan Haas said. “We have two more league wins than last year. We still have work to do. At 3-2, it’s good to build some confidence. The girls need it.”
Unfortunately, the momentum of three straight wins came to a halt Thursday with a home-match, five-set loss to Sanger.
Haas knew her team didn’t come out particularly sharp Tuesday night and knew they were in for a battle Thursday.
“We weren’t very sharp,” Haas said Tuesday night. “We made a lot of errors. It was sloppy. I was not satisfied. Going into Sanger on Thursday, we have some work to do.
“The emotions played into the match, but I don’t think we played with a lot of emotion. There wasn’t a lot of energy coming from our side of the net, considering it was South. There should be more intensity from us.”
Madera was led by the nine kills from Hallie Page.
“Hallie Page played a solid game,” Haas said. “Even in those first two sets, she was underset a lot and she did a great job of what she was getting. She has definitely come a long way.”
Madera South became its own enemy, committing 17 service errors in the three sets.
“We had quite a few missed serves,” Madera South head coach Travis McEowen said. “We tell them to serve tough, but there’s a certain time to serve tough. There were some times where we lost some of the momentum.
“We’re still looking to put teams away. We have a young team. We tried to put them away, but every time we gave them a free ball, they put it back on us. Next time around, it may be different and we look forward to that.”
Lanaye Brewer led Madera South with six kills and setter Kylie Edelbacher recorded 19 assists.
The Stallions started off the match jumping out to a 6-3 lead behind two Madera service errors and a dual block by Edelbacher and Destiny Perez.
However, Page cut into the lead with a tip kill. Sierra Lancaster went behind the service line and delivered six straight points and a 10-6 Madera lead. In the run, Lancaster served up three aces and Page recorded two kills.
Madera South came back with two aces from Aleecia Rosel before Lauren Grewal got a tip kill for the side out. Page served up two more aces for a 13-9 lead.
The Stallions got an ace from Alejandra Barranco and a dual block from Edelbacher and Brewer to cut the lead to one.
Alyssa Burton got a side out kill to extend Madera’s lead to 17-14. A Brewer ace cut the lead to one, but a Page kill helped the Coyotes to a 21-18 lead. Lancaster served another ace and Page put down another kill for a 23-18 lead.
Grewal put down a kill to get to set point and Madera South hit out of bounds for a 25-19 Coyote victory.
In the second set, Madera jumped to a 4-0 lead behind a Stallions’ service error and a Grewal ace.
Burton and Katelyn Siegl combined on a block for a 5-1 lead and Lexi Carmona served an ace for a 7-4 lead.
Madera South battled back to get the lead to one after a Rosel kill. A Rosel side out kill and a Taylor Rogers kill gave the Stallions a 9-8 lead. However, a service error stopped the Stallions’ run.
Page put down a kill to open an 11-9 lead before Rosel put down a side out kill. Rosel served up a point for a 12-11 lead.
Madera got the lead back after an ace by Siegl. A side out kill by Lauren Lund gave the serve back to the Coyotes.
Carmona served an ace, Page put down two kills and Grewal put down another in a four-point run for a 21-15 lead.
Madera South got two side outs from Madera, but two service errors gave the Coyotes back the serve, leading 23-17. Madera got a lift call to get to set point and Page put down a kill for a 25-17 victory.
Madera took the lead in the third set after a kill from Alicia Velasco and a Page ace. Side out kills from Velasco and Burton helped Madera open a four-point lead. Giselle Morado served an ace to get the lead to 11-6.
Brewer put down a kill to start a Stallions’ run. Rogers served up three points, including a Brewer kill, to get the Stallions within one. However, a service error stopped the run.
Another service error led to two Madera points and a 15-11 lead.
Madera South added two points to cut the lead in half, but Rozlyn Holmes put down a kill to start a Coyote run.
In a five-point run, Lauren Lund served up an ace, Burton recorded a solo and dual (with Morado) block for a 21-13 before an Edelbacher kill.
Burton got a side out kill before Rogers got one for Madera South.
A Stallions service error gave the Coyotes match point. Madera South got the side out and an ace, but Madera South’s 17th service error of the night gave the Coyotes a 25-18 win and the match victory.
