Coyotes fall to league leading Sanger

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

The Madera Coyotes girls volleyball team seniors celebrate Senior Night Tuesday. From left are Zariah Bryant, Karissa Rodriguez, Katherine Jackson, Morgan Sweet, Estefania Baltazar and Kylie Bursey.

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The Madera Coyotes girls volleyball team faced its toughest foe of the season on a night where they honored six seniors.

The Coyotes had trouble putting down kills while the Sanger Apaches rolled to a three-set, 25-17, 25-14, 25-14 victory Tuesday in Joe Flores Gym on Senior Night.

The Apaches put down 34 kills in the three set win. They also added 14 aces.

Meanwhile, the Coyotes were limited to just five kills, four from senior Zariah Bryant.

“Sanger plays a pretty fast game at a little higher level,” coach Meghan Haas said. “They have three-ball control. It made it hard for us to score. I don’t think we had a kill in the second set. You’re not going to win many volleyball games like that.”

The Coyotes recorded three kills in the first set, none in the second and two in the third. They also had just five service aces.

“We had a hard time connecting. There was definitely disconnect with us,” Haas said. “We wanted to play well. It didn’t necessarily translate to the court. Their hearts were in it.”

The Coyotes battled with the Apaches to open the match. After the first set was tied at five, Sanger outscored Madera 6-3 with a pair of aces.

However, the Coyotes got aces, with the help of Joe Flores Gym, from Bryant and Karissa Rodriguez to cut Sanger’s lead to 14-13.

Sanger got the side out and added an ace before a kill from Aliyah Garcia and a kill from Emily Lopez cut the lead to one, again.

The Apaches closed the set by scoring six of the next seven points for a 25-17 victory.

Madera jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set behind an ace from Zoe Rodriguez. Sanger scored three straight points to cut the lead to one before the Coyotes got the side out.

Sanger got the side out and scored six straight points for a 13-8 lead. The Apaches gradually added to its lead to 23-13 before an out of bounds hit for side out.

Sanger got a kill for set point and Madera hit into the net for a 25-14 Sanger win.

A kill by Bryant cut the Sanger lead to 6-5 in the third set. After five straight side outs, the Apaches scored four straight points for a 13-7 lead.

Despite three Sanger missed serves, the Coyotes only cut the lead down by a point. Sanger served up a pair of aces before Rodriguez added another ace to cut the lead to 18-14.

Sanger got the side out and scored the final five points with two aces and two kills for a 25-14 win.