Coyotes bounce back to sweep Hawks

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Madera’s Jasmin Rodriguez rises up for a kill attempt past the block of Liberty’s Jazyn Perez during Tuesday’s sweep. Rodriguez put down a match-high 11 kills.

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What a difference a few days can make for the Madera Coyotes girls volleyball team.

Five days before their match with the Liberty Hawks, the Coyotes looked a little lackluster in a three-set loss to cross-town rivals, Madera South. However, on Tuesday, the Coyotes had a little more spring in their step with a three-set win over the Liberty Hawks in Joe Flores Gym.

“We were definitely better than against Madera South,” Madera head coach Meghan Haas said. “That comes from our first and second contact. We were able to get into a rhythm, a little bit. It gave us a little momentum and fun, which translates to better play.”

Liberty came into the match riding high and was looking forward to facing the Coyotes. However, they battled inconsistent play and couldn’t find any momentum.

“We had a lot of inconsistency,” Liberty head coach Grant Clark said. “This is the first game where we played inconsistent. I think we were tired and sluggish. We had a lot of hitting and serving errors. We shot ourselves in the foot, especially in the last two sets. We were in a funk, but we couldn’t get out of it. We didn’t match up well.”

The Coyotes got standout efforts from Jasmin Rodriguez, who led the team with 11 kills, and Aliyah Garcia, who added nine kills with four aces.

The Coyotes combined to put down 27 kills while the Hawks didn’t have a hitter with more than four kills and had just 14 kills in the three sets.

Liberty also recorded 11 aces, but also committed 12 service errors. Madera had nine aces and had just five missed serves all night.

“We’re working on the little things,” Haas said. “At the beginning of the season, we’re working through all that. It’s not how you start, but how you finish. We’re happy.”

The Hawks started off the match with the early lead with a pair of aces from Emma Del Toro, who led the team with five. Rylee Bocchini served up an ace and the Hawks led 6-1.

Estefania Baltazar served up an ace while the Coyotes cut the lead to two before a Bocchini kill.

Rodriguez put down her first kill of the match for side out and Garcia put down her first kill while Kylie Bursey served the Coyotes to the lead.

After a Liberty missed serve, Garcia served up three aces for a 14-11 lead.

Rodriguez kept the Coyotes in the lead with a pair of side out kills. Baltazar served up an ace in a five-point run in which Liberty hit out of bounds twice, was in the net and hit into the net for a 22-13 Coyotes’ lead.

After a Liberty side out, Garcia recorded a side out kill. A Liberty missed serve gave the Coyotes set point and Rodriguez closed the set with a kill for a 25-15 first set win.

Madera took the early lead in the second set and didn’t look back. Rodriguez put down a kill for the quick 2-0 lead. Morgan Sweet served up an ace.

After Bocchini put down a kill for a Liberty side out, Zariah Bryant recorded a side out kill.

Baltazar went behind the line and served up six straight points. Liberty hit the ball into the net twice, Garcia had a pair of kills and Zoe Rodriguez had another for an 11-2 lead.

The Hawks didn’t go away after a side out. Emily Boatwright put down the first of her team-leading four kills. Taylor Toschi served up three aces to cut the lead to four.

The Coyotes got the side out and Bryant served up an ace and put down a back row kill for a 14-7 lead.

Karsyn Bauer and Sarah Sinclair combined for a dual block for the Hawks to get to within five, but a side out kill from Bursey and a solo block from Rodriguez extended Madera’s lead to 17-9.

Boatwright put down a pair of kills for the Hawks, but Rodriguez added another for the Coyotes to take a 20-12 lead.

Liberty got the serve and Del Toro got the Hawks back in the set with a pair of aces. Madera hit into the net twice and Bocchini put down a kill to cut Madera’s lead to two.

Madera got the side out, but a kill from Mackey Boatwright gave the serve back to Liberty. Bocchini served up an ace to cut the lead to one. Bocchini missed her next serve, but Boatwright put down another side out kill and Toschi served up another ace to tie the set at 22.

However, another missed serve gave the ball to Madera, and they didn’t give it back. Garcia slammed down a Liberty overpass for a kill and closed the set with another kill for the 25-22 win.

In the third set, Garcia and Rodriguez recorded a pair of side out kills to give the Coyotes an 8-7 lead. Garcia served up a point before Bauer put down a kill for the Hawks.

Bursey served up three straight points with a Rodriguez solo block and kill for a 13-8 lead.

Liberty got the side out, but gave it back to Madera with a missed serve.

Boatwright put down her third kill of the match to give the Hawks the side out. Sinclair served up four points, including a kill with a back row push attempt that found an open spot on the Madera side. Sinclair served up an ace to tie the set at 14 before an Alyssa Jimenez side out kill for Madera.

Baltazar served up an ace, but Toschi served up an ace to tie the set at 16.

The teams were tied at 17 and 18 before the Coyotes got the serve behind a Garcia kill.

Garcia served up an ace and never gave the serve back to Liberty. In the six-point run to close the match, Bursey put down a kill, Liberty hit out of bounds and Rodriguez had a solo block and two kills, the last one ended the match with a 25-18 victory.