Stallions continue strong start in league
Wendy Alexander/The madera Tribune
Madera South’s Christian Sylvia reaches up to put down one of his kills during a three-set sweep Tuesday over the Edison-Fresno Tigers.
The Madera South boys volleyball team continued its strong start to the season, sweeping the Edison-Fresno Tigers.
Madera South coach Steve Guglielmana said the Stallions could have put together an even better performance, but they did enough to get the win Tuesday night at madera South.
“It wasn’t what I expected as far as the match went, but it went very favorable for us, so I’m happy about that,” Guglielmana said.
The Stallions jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first set and continued to pounce on the Tigers.
Senior Christian Sylvia was one of the many Stallions who had a strong, all-around game. Sylvia scored two consecutive points in the first set to give the Stallions a 13-4 lead.
The Stallions scored the last three points of the first set to win it 25-8.
“Yesterday we had a rough practice, but after that practice we came together and talked about the mistakes that we did,” senior Adrian Alvarez said. “Today, before we started warming up, we were talking about the mistakes we did and how we can fix them and we picked each other up on the court and that’s what got us the victory.”
The Tigers stayed within striking distance in the early part of the second set, but it was only a matter of time before the Stallions pushed the lead to double digits.
Senior Ruben Jaimez scored two in a row to give the Stallions a 7-3 lead in the second set. After the Tigers cut the lead to two, Riley Maciel’s kill gave the Stallions a 9-6 lead.
Ruben Jaimez’s tip-kill pushed the lead to double digits and the Stallions went on to win the set 25-17.
The Tigers came out more energized in third set. Still, their momentum didn’t last long.
The teams went back-and-forth in the early part of the set, with the Stallions taking a 12-11 lead. From that point on, however, the Stallions created separation and went on to win the set 25-14.
“We need to learn to go through some struggles and it was good for us to fight back,” Guglielmana said.
With the win, the Stallions improved to 26-6 overall, 2-1 in league.
“We’re still not 100 percent as far as bonding with each other. We’re still learning that part,” Madera South coach Steve Guglielmana said. “Our volleyball knowledge and our athleticism and our mental package, we’re still putting that together. The coaching staff is excited to see where we can go.”
The Stallion went 3-1 in the East County Invitational before facing Edison.
“All the hard work that we have been putting in shows on the court,” Alvarez said. “We just believe and we keep pulling each other up and we can be winning games.”
