Coyotes bounced in straight sets
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Isabella Saucedo gets a kill past the arms of he Yosemite blockers during Tuesday’s match. Saucedo recorded a team-high 11 kills in the loss.
For Madera Coyotes girls volleyball head coach Meghan Haas, getting all three phases of the game on the same page has been hard.
The Coyotes have had their trouble with serve receive, but it was better on Tuesday. The setting of Jade Davie and Sofia Perez was good enough to get hits. However, missing top hitter Lilly Ascencio meant the Coyotes were missing a put-away hitter and an all-around player.
“We worked a ton on team defense on Monday,” Haas said. “Our defense was a lot better than it has been. We passed okay in serve receive, but we just couldn’t put a ball away. We have a team policy with grades and she didn’t make the cut. We don’t have many six-rotation players and losing one is huge.”
Isabella Saucedo, who put down a team-high 11 kills, was the only Coyote with six or more kills in Tuesday’s straight set loss to the Yosemite-Oakhurst Badgers in Joe Flores Gym.
“When you go four or five rallies in a play, people start to get tired,” Haas said. “You can dig so many balls before they find a way to put it away. We did not do our job from an attacking standpoint today.”
The Badgers recorded a pair of aces to open the match with a 4-0 lead.
The Coyotes battled back to take the lead with an seven-point run behind two aces from Jade Davie. Cassidy Mata put down a kill off an overpass and Saucedo put down a kill for a 9-7 lead.
Kills from Mata and Brianna Guerrero opened the lead to three. After Yosemite tied the set at 12, Guerrero and Trinity Davie put down kills for a 14-12 lead.
Yosemite went on a five-point run to open a 19-15 lead. Despite side out kills from Saucedo, Yosemite opened a five-point lead. After a trade in side outs, Yosemite recorded an ace and put down a kill for a 25-18 victory.
In the second set, a dump kill from Sofia Perez and a dual block from Elizabeth Corchado and Mata opened a 5-2 lead.
Yosemite took a 10-7 lead before the Coyotes came back off a Badgers’ service error. Mata served up an ace, Jocelynn Markle put down two kills and Davie recorded a block to take a 12-11 lead.
Yosemite regained the lead, 15-13, after a three-point run. After a momentum changing long rally, the Badgers scored four straight points for a 19-15 lead.
A Saucedo solo block and an ace cut the lead down to three, but a service error gave the side out to the Badgers. The Coyotes got the side out and Davie and Mata combined on a dual block to cut the lead to 22-19.
However, a Coyote service error gave the ball back to Yosemite. The Coyotes got the side out, but Yosemite got it right back with a tip kill for set point. Madera hit out of bounds for a 25-20 second set victory for Yosemite.
Two Mata aces opened a 5-3 lead for the Coyotes in the third set. Madera took a three-point lead when Markle’s kill found the back line. Yosemite battled back to tie the set at 10.
However, Mata put down a kill and Markle served up an ace for a 12-10 lead. A Saucedo kill opened the lead to three. Two Saucedo kills kept the Coyotes in the lead.
However, a Madera out of bounds hit led to a Yosemite rally. The Badgers put down two kills and served up an ace in a seven-point run to open a 21-16 lead.
Markle put down two kills and Davie recorded a block to cut Yosemite’s lead to 22-19. Two Davie kills cut the Badgers’ lead to one.
However, Yosemite got the side out on a Madera missed serve. The Badgers got a tip kill and then aced the Coyotes for match point, winning the third set 25-21.