Short-handed Coyotes fall to Yosemite Badgers

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Madera libero Sofia Mata records a dig to start the Coyotes’ offense in Thursday’s loss to Yosemite.

---

Missing three players due to health reasons, the Madera Coyotes girls volleyball team is having a tough start to the 2021 season.

The Coyotes suffered a three-set (25-19, 25-15, 25-13) loss to the Yosemite-Oakhurst Badgers on Thursday in Joe Flores Gym.

“It’s new and we’re down three girls to health stuff,” head coach Meghan Haas said. “There are some new faces out there. We have three sophomores and we’re building from the ground up.”

Erika Perez led the Coyotes with nine kills and Morgan Burns added seven.

“It’s about learning to play with each other and what’s expected of them,” Haas said. “We’re trying to give them confidence to believe in themselves. They are playing scared right now, afraid of making mistakes.”

The Coyotes battled Yosemite tough in the first set, only losing by six.

In the second set, the Coyotes had the lead in the middle of the match, but a four-point run gave the Badgers a 15-12 lead.

Sofia Marin served up an ace to cut the Badgers’ lead to one. Yosemite got a kill and added two more points before an Aliyah Garcia kill got the side out.

The Badgers got the kill for the side out and scored the next five points for a 25-15 win.

Marin served up two aces to open the third set with a 3-0 lead.

Yosemite took a 5-4 lead with a ace before the Coyotes got the side out. Morgan Burns served up a point for the Madera lead.

Yosemite got the side out and scored two straight points. Zoe Rodriguez got the side out with a kill for the Coyotes.

The Badgers quickly got a side out, but Emily Lopez put down a kill.

After Yosemite got the side out, the Badgers scored seven straight points to extend the lead to 17-8.

The two teams exchanged six straight side outs with Rodriguez getting a side out kill for the Coyotes. Yosemite extended the lead to 10 before Kylie Bursey put down a kill.

The two teams exchanged three straight side outs before the Badgers ended the match with a kill for a 25-13 win.