Coyote boys get revenge victory over Madera South
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s Giovanny Prudente reaches back for a dig during Thursday’s match against Madera South.
The first time the Madera Coyotes boys volleyball team faced Madera South, the Coyotes had two games and just one practice together.
What a difference a few practices makes. With a few more practices under their belt, the Coyotes avenged a loss to the Stallions with a three-set victory, 25-16, 25-16, 28-26, Thursday evening in Joe Flores Gym.
“It’s called practice,” head coach Rhonda Jefferson-Counsel said. “We had Bullard and Madera South. Then, we got Thursday, Friday and Monday, so we got three solid days of practice in.”
Bryson Smith led the Coyotes with 15 kills, but six other players recorded kills for the Coyotes, including Jacob Gaeta from six.
“We worked on spreading out the ball for Madera South,” Jefferson-Counsel said. “We figured Donovan (Guglielmana) would go against Bryson. We worked our backsides and outsides a lot.”
The only negative Jefferson-Counsel took from Thursday’s match was the number of service errors her team had. Madera had 11 missed serves, but Madera South had 12.
“I don’t understand why we can’t serve,” she said. “We’ve had just one practice in this gym.”
Donovan Guglielmana led the Stallions with nine kills, but the rest of the team combined for nine kills.
Madera took a 12-8 lead in the first set behind a dual block from Oscar Rodriguez and Gaeta.
After a Madera South service error, Angel Leon served up three straight points, including an ace. Gaeta and Matthew Carrera put down kills for a 17-11 lead.
Madera South’s Cristian Saldana put down a side out kill, but Smith put down a kill to get the serve back.
A pancake dig from Leon and a Smith kill led to a 20-12 lead.
Madera South battled with two ace serves from Nicolas Maldonado to cut the lead to five.
Smith served up an ace to open a 23-16 lead. His next serve wasn’t returned for another ace. Smith aced the Stallions for a third straight time for a 25-16 win.
Josh Landeros served up three straight points to open the second set. Smith served up two more points for a 12-7 lead before a Guglielmana kill.
Gaeta put down a kill, but the Stallions scored three straight points to cut the lead to two. A pair of Stallions’ service errors led to a Coyotes’ run. Giovanny Prudente served up eight straight points. He had three aces in the run while Smith had two kills and Gaeta had another for set point, 24-13.
Madera South stopped the run with a Mario Aguirre side out kill. The Stallions scored two more points before a missed serve gave the Coyotes a 25-16 win.
Madera South took advantage of seven Madera mistakes to open an 8-1 lead. Richard Nieto added an ace for the Stallions.
Gaeta began the comeback with a side out kill and Leon served up an ace.
Aguirre put down a side out kill for Madera South. Guglielmana added a kill for a 10-3 lead.
The Stallions led 12-6 before the Coyotes began to come back. Smith put down a side out kill and added another with Eduardo Enriquez serving. Enriquez added an ace and Landeros had a dump for a kill as the Coyotes tied the set at 12.
A missed serve gave the Stallions the chance to regain the lead. Kills from Nieto and Saldana opened a 16-12 lead before a missed serve gave the Coyotes a side out.
Landeros served up two points to cut the lead to one before a missed serve.
Side out kills by Smith and Guglielmana kept the set close. Madera South added a point for a three-point lead and, eventually led 23-19 after Madera hit out of bounds.
Smith got the side out with a kill and added another to cut the lead to two.
Guglielmana got the side out for set point, but Smith got the side out back to Madera with a kill.
On Madera South’s second set point, Smith’s serve wasn’t returned for an ace. Leon put down another kill for the Coyotes to tie the set at 24 on Madera South’s third set point. Smith served up an ace and Madera saw match point, leading 25-24.
After a trade in side outs, Saldana put down a side out kill or the Stallions, but Leon put down side out kill for the Coyotes to lead 27-26 and face its third match point.
Madera South hit into the net to give the Coyotes a 28-26 victory.
