Coyotes looking for complete game
The Madera Coyotes boys volleyball team is still looking for the game where all phases come together two matches into the County/Metro Athletic Conference season.
The Coyotes battled the Bullard-Fresno Knights tough, but Bullard pulled out a 25-17, 25-21, 25-17 sweep Tuesday in Joe Flores gym.
“We’re still learning how to play together as a team,” head coach Rhonda Jefferson said. “We passed well tonight. Javier (Maciel) did well running an actual offense tonight. We need to complete a game together. We need to bring all these little things together.”
Chandler Fowler led the Coyotes with 10 kills. Hunter Brown added eight and Alex Olvera-Gil added seven. Bryson Smith had five. Maciel ended with 16 assists to go with eight digs. Olvera-Gil led the Coyotes with 12 digs.
The Coyotes received a bye in their CMAC schedule because San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno didn’t field a team. They play in a tournament in Carmel Saturday and Jefferson hopes one of the six or seven matches they get in will be a complete one.
“We’re going to find a complete game and keep it the rest of the season,” Jefferson said.
Behind a kill from Fowler and an Olvera-Gil kill, Madera jumped out to a 4-2 lead. Bullard battled back to take a 5-4 lead. Another three points run led to a 9-6 lead and a six-point run gave the Knights a 15-9 lead before a Fowler side out kill.
Fowler put down three side out kills, but Madera still trailed 18-14. Bullard got the side out and scored three straight points for a 22-15 lead before a Brown side out kill.
After a missed Coyote serve, Fowler put down a side out kill. Bullard got the side out for set point and put down a kill for a 25-17 victory.
In the second set, Bullard took a narrow 7-5 lead before a missed serve. Denzel Villa served up a point to tie the set. Bullard scored five straight points to regain the lead.
The two teams exchanged 10 straight side outs. Olvera-Gil had two side out kills while Brown added one. Noel Luviano-Duque and Smith combined on a dual block.
Bullard stopped the side out run with two points for a 19-12 lead. Brown and Olvera-Gil combined on a side out block. However, Madera missed its next serve, but Brown got the serve back with a side out kill.
Maciel served up four straight points to cut the lead to 21-19. Fowler put down a kill in the run and Smith and Luviano-Duque combined on a dual block.
Bullard got the side out and added a point before a Smith kill. Bullard got the side out with a tip kill for set point. After Bullard hit out of bounds for a side out, Madera missed its fourth serve of the set for a 25-21 Bullard victory.
Bullard jumped out to a 7-3 led in the third set. Madera got a side out kill from Fowler, a kill from Brown and an ace from Villa to cut the lead to three.
Bullard then scored five straight points to open a 16-7 lead before a Fowler kill.
A side out kill from Smith and a kill from Olvera-Gil cut the lead down to seven, but, despite three side out kills from Smith, Bullard extended its lead to 22-12 before a Brown kill.
After a Bullard side out, Fowler put down a side out kill. A missed serve gave the Knights match point and a kill ended the match with a 25-14 victory.
