The match Friday between the best teams in the Tri-County
Athletic League teams went to rally scoring before Live Oak was
able to knock off visiting Gilroy 15-8, 12-15, 15-13, 3-15,
15-10.
The match Friday between the best teams in the Tri-County Athletic League teams went to rally scoring before Live Oak was able to knock off visiting Gilroy 15-8, 12-15, 15-13, 3-15, 15-10.
At Hollister in a makeup game on Monday, Live Oak against pulled the rabbit out with a 15-9, 10-15, 5-15, 15-13, 15-9 win.
The wins move the Acorns (16-9, 6-0 TCAL) in sole possession of first place in TCAL. If Gilroy wins the rest of its games including the May 7 rematch with Live Oak, it could have a chance to claim a TCAL co-championship with Live Oak. That is if neither team loses another league match.
If Gilroy (13-8, 5-1 TCAL) defeats Live Oak, the Mustangs will earn the right to advance to the Central Coast Section playoffs as the TCAL champion, said TCAL Commissioner Elgie Bellizio.
“If they are tied for first place, the second game acts as a tie breaker according to CCS bylaws,” Bellizio said. “It is hard to say if both teams could advance, but you certainly hope so.”
After losing the even matches to Gilroy, Live Oak came back to win the rally score after Gilroy made some hitting mistakes. Gilroy appeared to have the momentum to win in the fifth game after winning big in the fourth match.
“Every time we play them it seems to go five, and it seems to be close,” said Live Oak coach John Telfer. “It is really tough in rally scoring to come back after a digging a hole like that. We have a tendency to over hit and to try to score more than one point at a time. But they played patient and were able to find some spots for tipins.”
Live Oak fell behind 7-2 after the Mustangs were able to block several hits by Live Oak big man Chris Deem, who had 10 kills. After a timeout down 5-1, Live Oak switched things up with Drew Pearson, who had 20 kills, getting some different looks. Terry Sullivan’s serves helped Live Oak pull ahead in the rubber match.
“We kind of put ourselves behind the eight ball by losing that first game and having to play behind from behind,” said Gilroy coach Craig Martin. “We knew it would be a close game.”
Matt McElroy, who had 12 kills in the game, smashed a ball over Gilroy’s Kyle Loving and John Bowie in the final set of the first game to help the Acorns get the first match in their possession.
“He was on fire,” said Telfer of McElroy, who played as big a part as anyone in the Acorns’ win. “He was hitting the ball hard the way he has been doing it in practice. He is seeing the block better. That is one thing he has had problem with. He was laying off when it wasn’t there and knocking it down when it was. It was his best game so far this season.”
Both teams had trouble getting any momentum in the second game until Gilroy tied the game at nine and then took a 13-9 lead. Live Oak rallied back and got within 12-13 before Gilroy put it away.
For awhile in the third game, Live Oak forgot how to score. Gilroy outside hitter Jason Mendeceles, who led all players with 22 kills on 59 attempts, had six straight serves to take a 8-3 lead. After Live Oak called time out, Gavin Kolodge, who is returning from a back injury, put down a spike to break the momentum and give Live Oak some life.
After seven consecutive side outs and a Gilroy point, Live Oak began to climb back up and was down 9-8 before Gilroy scored three quick points. Behind McElroy’s serving, Live Oak took a 14-13 lead. Deem and Pearson combined for a block for point 14, and Jeremy Bouchette gave the Acorns the win with an unreturnable hit. But the Acorns never could get in a rthym in the fourth game.
“We had several runs of bad passing,” Telfer said. “They had some really good deep serves on us and jammed us a little bit. We had trouble getting the ball deep enough to the setter. Instead we were having to come from behind the ten-foot line and basically set our back-row players.”
Both teams had some questionable calls called against them in the game.
“It was a very heated match obviously because it means a ton,” Telfer said. “We thought we had some momentum busters on questionable calls, but they obviously had their fair share as well. One thing we’ve warned the team about is focusing too much on them. They didn’t let that bother them. Gilroy is so good at staying focused, and we have used them as an example for that.”
If the Acorns, who participated in their final tournament of the year last weekend, are able to win their last eight games, they will be the TCAL champs and automatically qualify for CCS. But that is still a big if especially after watching Hollister almost walk away with a win.
There are 16 teams that advance to the playoffs. Even a league championship in the TCAL would still not give Live Oak a high ranking going in because of the league’s classification as a “B” league. Telfer said his team has a good chance of making the playoffs as an at-large team.
“One thing that will help us maybe more than Gilroy is that we have played and beat “A” league teams,” Telfer said. “We have played some league champions also. I think we will have a healthy dose of bonus points.”
One of those potential League champions was Fresno powerhouse Bullard, who defeated Live Oak en route to the championship of the Alisal tournament hosted last weekend by three schools.
“We started off hot with a 4-1 lead,” Telfer said. “We had a lot of sideouts early, but they were able to shut us down. It was the fastest team we have seen.”
Live Oak opened with wins against Watsonville and against Mountain View, who defeated Live Oak earlier in the year in the Oak Grove tourney. Although Live Oak took first in the silver division, the Acorns were defeated in the quarterfinals by Harbor and finished with a 2-2 record.
“It is a long ways from being over,” Telfer said. “We seem to play better when our backs are to the wall. Now we’re the hunted so we got to be on our guard.”
