Sanger sweeps Coyotes

The Madera Coyotes boys volleyball team showed glimpses of coming out of its season-long funk, but lost in three sets to the Sanger Apaches in Joe Flores Gym.

The Coyotes battled the Apaches to the end in the first set, losing a 22-19 lead in a 25-23 loss. Sanger then took advantage of Madera errors for a 25-11 and 25-7 victory to complete the sweep Tuesday.

“We played really well in the first set, but we just couldn’t close the door,” head coach Rhonda Jefferson said. “We stopped hitting and being aggressive in the next two sets and let Sanger dictate the game to us.”

Madera recorded just 16 kills in the three-set match. Chandler Fowler was the only Coyote with five or more kills with five.

The Coyotes also had trouble at the service line, committing five service errors in the second set. Meanwhile, Sanger took advantage of shaky Coyotes defense and served up seven aces in the win.

After Sanger took a 7-4 lead in the first set, a Fowler kill gave Madera the side out.

Denzel Villa served up two aces in a four-point run to take a 9-7 lead. Hunter Brown and Fowler combined on a dual block in the run.

Sanger battled back to take a 13-11 lead. After a Sanger double-contact violation, Brown served up three straight points, highlighted by an Alex Olvera-Gil kill for a 15-13 lead.

After a trade in side outs, Ayden Orlando served up two more points, capped by a Bryson Smith kill for an 18-14 lead.

Sanger cut the lead down to one before Olvera-Gil put down a side out kill.

The two teams combined for five straight side outs, including a Brown solo block. Javier Maciel served up a point for a 22-19 lead.

Sanger got the side out, served up an ace and scored four straight points for a 23-20 lead.

Fowler stopped the run with a side out kill, but Sanger blocked a Madera attack and put down a kill for a 25-23 victory.

In the second set, the Coyotes couldn’t get any traction when they had serve. Madera forced 11 side outs with Sanger missing serves on two of them and didn’t score any points with the serve.

The Apaches used a six-point run to turn a close set into a nine-point lead. The Apaches kept extending their lead and used a Madera service error for set point and Madera hit into the net for a 25-11 Sanger win.

The Coyotes had even more trouble in the third set. Sanger scored the first five points and nine of the first 10.

Orlando served up two points with a pair of Fowler kills to cut the lead to six. However, Sanger scored three straight points and then nine straight points for a 24-6 lead.

After Sanger hit into the net for side out, the Apaches closed the match with a kill for a 25-7 victory.