Coyotes battle to win home opener in four
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s Hallie Page reaches up for one of her game-high 15 kills in a four-set win over Minarets on Thursday.
The Madera Coyote girls volleyball team opened its 2017 home campaign against the reigning Div. IV Valley Champions from nearby Minarets and came away with a four-set victory in Joe Flores Gym.
The Mustangs, who have reached the Div. IV finals the past two seasons, gave the Div. II Coyotes a test Thursday. It was the senior leadership of Hallie Page and Katelyn Siegl that helped the Coyotes.
Both players recorded 15 kills while Page added five aces in the victory.
“We have a lot of seniors and all of them are going to see court time,” head coach Meghan Haas said. “We have a freshman middle. We are going to rely on Katelyn and Hallie for experience. We have Alexis (Carmona) controlling the back row and tempo will be huge for us.”
The Coyotes also got five kills from Lillith Ascencio and five solo blocks from freshman Isabella Saucedo. Carmona led the team with 18 digs while Lauren Grewal contributed 24 assists.
“We played Minarets a couple of times last year and we went back and forth,” Haas said. “We’re evenly matched teams.”
The Coyotes also recorded nine service aces and many of their serves led to easy attacks to defend, which led to a Madera counterattack.
“We’ve been working on serving areas to try to pick on people and create a lot of chaos on the other side and they’ve been doing a great job,” Haas said. “I told them that’s going to take us to the next level.”
Minarets opened the first set with an 8-4 lead and extended the lead to 12-7 after an ace.
A Siegl side out kill led to a pair of Page kills and another from Siegl in a five-point run to tie the score at 12.
Minarets scored two points, but a Page side out kill led to a five-point Madera run. Giselle Morado served up three straight points and Siegl put down a kill for a 17-14 Madera lead.
Minarets wouldn’t go away and tied the score at 18 before a side out kill from Lauren Lund.
Page served up an ace, Saucedo sent back a Minarets kill and Page served another ace inside the sideline for a 22-18 lead. After a Minarets side out, Page got Madera a side out with a kill.
Lund served an ace to get to set point and Minarets hit out of bounds for a 25-19 Madera victory.
In the second set, Siegl turned a Carmona-saving dig into a side out kill. Jocelynn Markle put down a kill and Page turned a Minarets overpass into a kill for a 4-3 lead.
Two Markle kills, including one on a diving dig, led to a 9-5 Madera lead.
However, Minarets battled back to tie the set at 10, 11 and 12 before a Page side out kill. Siegl put down two more kills for a 14-12 lead.
Despite a side out kill from Siegl and a Page solo block, Minarets tied the set at 15. However, Page served up an ace and Minarets hit out of bounds for an 18-15 Coyote lead.
After a Lund side out kill, Saucedo recorded two solo blocks to open a 22-16 lead. Minarets missed its serve and Ascencio aced the Mustangs to get to set point. Siegl ended the second set with a kill for a 25-17 victory.
In the third set, Minarets opened an 8-5 lead and extended the lead to 12-8. Velasco put down a kill and Julianna Rodriguez got the help of the net for an ace to tie the score at 12.
Despite side out kills from Grewal and Ascencio, the Mustangs opened a 16-14 lead. The Coyotes couldn’t find any rhythm on offense despite side out kills from Ascencio, Siegl and Page while Minarets opened the lead to four.
Back-to-back kills from Page cut the lead to three, but Minarets closed the third set with four straight points for a 25-18 victory.
In the fourth set, the Coyotes used a six-point run to take control of the game. After a missed Minarets serve, Siegl and Page put down kills. Grewal served up two aces and Page put down another kill for a 13-5 lead.
Minarets scored five more points to cut the lead to three. A Page side out kill and an Ascencio kill opened the lead back to five. Page and Lund combined on a solo block and Carmona served up an ace for a 17-12 lead.
The Mustangs cut the lead to one with a four point run before a Saucedo solo block for side out.
Siegl and Saucedo put down kills to get the lead to 20-16. After a Minarets side out, Siegl put down a side out kill. Page added another kill for a 23-17 lead.
Minarets scored three points to cut the lead to three before hitting out of bounds and giving the Coyotes match point, 24-20.
A service error and a Minarets kill cut the Coyotes’ lead to two before Siegl put down a kill off a Minarets touch for a 25-22 victory to win the match.
