Sobrato’s big finish overshadowed by slow start against
Leland
MORGAN HILL — After taking the third set in Tuesday’s Mount Hamilton Division match with Leland, the winless but worrisome volleyball team from Sobrato High School looked primed to pull off an upset.
The only problem was it took the Bulldogs two sets to find their groove.
A pair of opening losses came back to haunt them, as they sacked the third game, but dropped the fourth to fall 16-25, 22-25, 25-21, 21-25 in Sobrato Gym.
“It took a while for us to warm up. It took too much time,” sophomore setter Taylor Schilling said. “We just kicked it into gear in the last couple of games. Our momentum got going.
“I think we could have won this game. We just need to kick things in faster.”
The first set was a throw-away, considering the Bulldogs (0-7 league) sat two starters because of disciplinary reasons. Sobrato was able to trade blows with the over-sized Chargers (4-3) in Game 2. Jared Mammen scored four of his dozen kills, and Schilling collected seven of his game-high 20 assists.
Mammen ended the night with four blocks, four digs and one stuff block.
“We’re a young team, and with our starters out for that first set — we didn’t just have the experience to compete with them,” Sobrato coach Laura Coleman said. “With our team, you never know who’s going to have a good game and who’s going to have not a good game. It’s the end of the season, and we still don’t have a starting lineup, but we’re improving.”
Leland jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the third set, but the Bulldogs answered with a 6-0 scoring run to go ahead for good. Ethan Lines landed an ace, Schilling connected with Alex Jaguello for two kills, and middle blocker Robert Bowen scored a stuff block to help Sobrato take six of the next nine points.
“We were great in that third set,” Schilling said. “I was impressed. We showed how well we can do when we put things together.”
Jaguello finished with eight kills and two stuff blocks, and Bowen totaled five kills. Working opposite Mammen, Vincent Alfonseco scored four kills.
“Vince and Alex are moving along for me,” Coleman said. “At the beginning of the season, Jared was our only consistent outside hitter. Now we actually have a few to work with.”
Jacob Penderson, a 6-foot-3 junior, tallied a game-high 20 kills for the Chargers.
