Coyotes sweep Knights, improve to 2-1 in CMAC
Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune
Madera setter Sofia Perez gets up a set to start the Coyotes’ offense in Tuesday’s County/Metro Athletic Conference sweep over the Bullard Knights.
The Madera Coyotes took advantage of a young Bullard-Fresno Knights girls volleyball team to record a three-set sweep in County/Metro Athletic Conference action.
The Coyotes had to bounce back from a subpar 25-22 win in the first set to record a 25-15 win in the second and a 25-17 in the third for Tuesday’s victory.
“A league win is always good,” head coach Meghan Haas said. “We made a ton of errors serving and attacking in the first set. I told the girls we were lucky they missed as many serves as they did in the first set or we might not have won.”
Isabella Sauceda led the Coyotes with 15 kills. Brianna Guerrero added 10 while the Coyotes amassed 32 kills in the three sets.
“Even in the last match, we had a lot of people who contributed,” Haas said. “Bella is going to get tired. She’s going to get a lot of sets. Brianna stepped up and did a good job tonight.”
The Knights committed numerous errors, including nine missed serves to allow Madera to take control of the match after a tough first set.
“Volleyball is a game of momentum,” Haas said. “Once we settled down, we were in control, pretty much.”
The Knights jumped out to a 6-4 lead and kept it at 8-6 before a service error. Saucedo served up three straight points, including getting a back row kill and a tip kill from Guerrero for a 10-8 lead.
After another Bullard missed serve, Jade Davie and Guerrero put down kills for a 13-9 lead. An Alizae Vasquez kill opened the lead to five and a Mariyah Alvarez ace gave the Coyotes a 19-14 lead.
The Knights cut the lead down to two after a kill for side out. A Saucedo kill gave the Coyote set point, leading 24-21. However a missed serve gave the Knights a chance to get back in the set. However, Vasquez put down her second kill of the set for a 25-22 victory.
After Bullard jumped out to a 4-1 lead, the Coyotes scored five straight points to take an 8-6 lead in the second set.
After a Kaci Gonzalez side out kill, Saucedo served up four more points while adding another kill. Guerrero put down two in the run for a 13-8 lead.
Sofia Perez served up an ace in a five-point run. Guerrero had two kills, including the side out kill for a 19-8 Madera lead.
Guerrero added another kill for a 21-9 lead.
However, Bullard came back with three aces for six straight points to cut the Madera lead to six before a Davie bump kill.
With Guerrero serving, Saucedo put down a kill for a 23-15 lead. Bullard then hit out of bounds on back-to-back plays to give the Coyotes a 25-15 win.
In the third set, two Saucedo aces and an Alvarez ace opened a 5-1 lead. A Perez ace and a Guerrero kill off the block opened the lead to seven.
Guerrero served up an ace while the Coyotes took a 14-4 lead. Despite side out kills from Davie and Saucedo, Bullard chipped away at the lead, eventually taking it down to four at 20-16.
After Bullard hit out of bounds, Saucedo put down a kill to get the lead back to six. After a trade in side outs, Davie served up a point for match point and ended the match with an ace for a 25-17 victory.
