Madera regroups for victory against Edison

Manuel Guillen/The Madera Tribune

Madera’s Rae Jackson rises up for a kill in Tuesday’s County/Metro Athletic Conference opener against Edison. She led the team to a four-set victory over the Tigers.

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Matching up against the Edison-Fresno Tigers in Joe Flores Gym, Madera’s girls volleyball team appeared to be on its way to a flawless victory.

The visitors, however, clawed their way back into the match and gave the Coyotes a challenge before eventually taking the loss in four sets Tuesday evening.

Madera Coyotes head coach Meghan Haas would have liked to see her team finish the game early, but she is still happy with the players’ ability to regroup after a rough stretch.

“We obviously would have loved to do it in three, but it shows some perseverance and some grit,” Haas said. “It’s gonna be a tough league this year. This is a good match for us to win, especially starting league. So, I think they’re ready.”

After winning the first set 25-18, Madera jumped out to another fast start in the second. Rae Jackson, who was dominant all night, came up with a series of vicious hits early in the second set to help the Coyotes jump out to a 13-8 lead. That’s when the Tigers called a timeout and came back with a run of their own, cutting the lead to two points and forcing Madera to call a timeout of its own.

The Coyotes pushed their advantage to 19-14 after huddling with their coach. After a powerful kill from Aliyah Garcia, Madera held a 22-17 lead in the third set. But Edison rallied and tied the set at 22 after a net violation. The Tigers tacked on two more points to push their advantage to 24-22, then proceeded to win the set 25-23.

The two teams went back-and-forth early in the third set, leading to a 13-13 deadlock. Madera then scored four consecutive points to build a 17-13 lead. Edison ended the run after calling a timeout.

The Coyotes still held a 20-14 lead after Kylie Bursey scored for the home team. After two consecutive points from Jackson, Madera pushed the gap to 24-15. The Coyotes then closed out the set 25-15.

Madera somehow seemed to find renewed energy in the fourth set. The team held a 9-4 lead after Jackson showed off yet another one of her vicious kills.

Trailing 11-4, Edison called a timeout. After the timeout, it was Jackson again who leaped high to nail another point for her squad. The gap widened to double digits when Bursey added to her tally. Edison finally ended the drought to make the score 18-5. But it wasn’t long before Jackson once again responded.

“[Jackson] played great. We’ve been a little bit inconsistent, so for her to come out tonight and be someone we can go to is huge,” Haas said.

Emily Lopez scored the final point of the match to give Madera a 25-10 win in the final set.