Stallions lose battle with Broncos
Wendy Alexander/The madera tribune
Madera South’s Jared Guglielmana rises up to put down one of his team-high 16 kills during Tuesday’s home opening loss tot he Clovis North Broncos.
The Madera South Stallions boys volleyball team opened its home season in defense of its Div. II Central Section Championship with a tough three-set loss to the Tri-River Athletic Conference’s Clovis North Broncos.
The Broncos outscored the Stallions 75-65 (25-23, 25-19, 26-24) in the three sets, but Madera South head coach Steve Guglielmana is not concerned about Tuesday’s result.
“It’s good we’re there with Clovis North,” he said. “Clovis North was better prepared. They had a higher level of anticipating what was going to happen and making the move. We were 10 points from them in the three sets and that’s about how much better they were than us. Could we clean up points? Yeah. Did we give away 10 points in the three sets? Yes, definitely. We need to work more. We had some guys playing their first year at this level so we’re figuring things out.”
Jared Guglielmana led the Stallions with 16 kills. Riley Maciel added 11 kills in the loss.
“We’re not too disappointed,” coach Guglielmana said. “The season is a process. We have a lot of volleyball left.”
The Stallions got two side out kills from Maciel and two more from Guglielmana to open the match. In addition, the Broncos missed five serves and the Stallions trailed 12-9 early in the first set.
Side out kills from Maciel, Oscar Estrada and Maciel, again, kept the Stallions within two.
Maciel served up a pair of aces and Sebastian Moreno found an empty spot on the Broncos’ side of the court with a dump kill for a 15-14 Stallions’ lead.
Despite a Guglielmana kill, the Broncos scored four straight points with a pair of aces to open a 19-16 lead.
Side out kills from Guglielmana kept the lead at two. The Stallions also got side out kills from Estrada, Christian Saldana and Maciel, but Clovis North got to set point leading 24-21.
The Stallions tried to come back. Saldana got a kill off a Clovis North block and Maciel served up an ace to cut the lead to 24-23. However, the Broncos put down a kill to win the set.
Madera South jumped to the early lead in the second set with Moreno serving. He served an ace, Guglielmana recorded a solo block, and three Broncos’ mistakes gave the Stallions a 5-0 lead.
Clovis North scored six straight points to turn a 9-4 deficit into a 10-9 lead.
Guglielmana scored three straight points for the Stallions with kills to tie the set at 13.
Moreno served up two more points for a 15-13 lead. After a Clovis North side out, Guglielmana put down a tip kill.
Clovis North scored three straight points to take the lead, but Saldana put down a kill for the side out and tie the set at 17.
Despite a Maciel tip kill for the side out, the Broncos got the serve back and scored six straight points to get to set point, leading 24-18.
Moreno put down a kill to cut the lead by one, but a Madera South missed serve gave the second set to the Broncos, 25-19.
Madera South, again, jumped out to the early lead in the third set. Three side out kills from Guglielmana, an ace from Dylan Montoya and Moreno served up two points for a 6-2 lead.
Clovis North scored three points to cut the lead to one. Moreno and Guglielmana put down side out kills to keep the lead at two and Eddie Aguilar served up a point for a 10-7 lead.
After Clovis North cut the lead to one, Guglielmana put down a side out kill. Julian Galvan won a joust at the net and the Stallions added three more points with a Maciel and Saldana dual block and a Guglielmana back row kill for a 16-11 lead.
Clovis North cut the lead to 17-15 before the teams exchanged eight straight side outs with four missed serves. Clovis North cut the lead to one before an Estrada tip kill. However, another service error gave the Broncos a point before an Estrada kill.
The Broncos quickly got the side out and scored two straight points for a 24-23 lead and match point. Maciel put down a kill to get out of match point, but the Stallions hit out of bounds on their possession to give match point back to the Broncos.
The Broncos ended the match with a kill for the 26-24 victory.
The Stallions continue play at the Golden Valley Classic this weekend.
