Stallions open at home with sweep
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera South’s Kiara Alvarado jumps up to put down a kill during a three-set sweep over the Sunnyside Wildcats in Tuesday’s home opener.
The Madera South Stallions opened its home season with a commanding three-set sweep over the Sunnyside-Fresno Wildcats.
The Stallions outscored the Wildcats 75-50 in the three games and finished the match in less than an hour Tuesday evening.
Madera South survived behind the service line. They recorded eight aces, but committed 11 service errors. Meanwhile, Sunnyside scored 11 points on aces, but also had 16 service errors.
“Sunnyside took it to us at the service line,” head coach Travis McEowen said. “They have the mentality we had a couple of years ago by serving aggressive and you live and die at the service line. They went at us hard and we had trouble with their serves. We had some lapses in communications. They had quite a few service errors that went with it.”
However, Arelis Chavez put down five kills and Bianca Guevara had six to lead the Stallions’ offense. They also got help from Sunnyside, who hit the ball out of bounds 15 times.
“We made some changes and took different looks at players in different positions,” McEowen said. “We were looking at everything. We worked on some things so we can move onto other things, now.”
The Stallions took advantage of three Sunnyside service errors early to jump out to a 9-5 lead, highlighted by two Kiara Alvarado aces and a Guevara solo block.
However, Sunnyside used a pair of aces to take a 10-9 lead before an Alvarado kill gave the Stallions a lead. Another side out and point gave the Wildcats the lead, but it would be the last of the set.
Madera South used a rotation error for a seven-point run to take control of the set. A second rotation error gave the Stallions a two-point lead. Chavez put down two kills, Destiny Perez put down a kill off a Sunnyside player’s face and Jacky Granados served up an ace for an 18-12 lead.
After two Sunnyside points, Chavez put down a kill for the side out and Perez added another kill for a 20-14 lead.
A pair of side outs led to a Guevara kill and a 23-15 lead before another Madera South missed serve. Sunnyside missed its next serve for set point before a four contact violation resulted in a 25-16 Stallions’ win.
A Chavez tip kill and an Alvarado ace led to an early second set lead. After six straight side outs, Alvarado put down a side out kill for an 8-6 lead. Guevara served up an ace for an 11-6 lead.
Another six side out exchange led to a 16-10 Stallions’ lead. Sunnyside hit out of bounds twice for an eight-point Stallions’ lead. Granados put down a dump kill to extend the lead to nine.
Sunnyside served an ace to cut the lead to seven, but missed its next serve. Granados served up two aces in a row for set point and Sunnyside couldn’t return a hit for a 25-14 Stallions’ win.
Alvarado served up four straight points to start the third set with a 7-1 lead. However, Sunnyside battled back with five aces in an eight-point stretch to take an 11-8 lead.
Guevara put down a kill for the side out. With Jacky Guglielmana serving, Guevara put down two kills and Alvarado added another. Guglielmana served up an ace for a 14-11 lead.
Sunnyside cut the lead down to one before a Guevara side out kill and ace for a three-point lead.
The Wildcats stayed close to the Stallions thanks to three Madera South missed serves. However, the Wildcats couldn’t get closer with four missed serves in its last five side outs.
A Sunnyside missed serve gave the Stallions match point and Granados ended it with a dump kill for a 25-20 victory.
