Stallions sweep inexperienced Coyotes, open 2-0

Courtesy of Christopher Cross

Madera South’s Jazlynn Vargas gets a hit past the block of Madera’s Kylie Bursey for one of her team-high 14 kills in Thursday’s non-league sweep over the Coyotes.

While the Madera South Stallions girls volleyball team returns two of it top hitters from last year, the Madera Coyotes are having trouble finding just one go-to hitter

That was evident in Thursday’s three-set Stallion victory over the Coyotes in Joe Flores Gym. The Stallions outscored the Coyotes 75-52 in the sweep to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

“The girls played really well tonight,” Madera South head coach Travis McEowen said. “Our first two opponents were not a walk in the park. It got us going and a great way to start with that confidence.”

One of Madera South’s top returning hitters, Jazlynn Vargas, is enjoying the opening of the season. She recorded 20 kills in a four-set win over Minarets earlier in the week. She put down 14 kills in the sweep over the Coyotes and added five aces.

Anna Kajitani had five kills and Danae Prudente recorded four kills.

“We have a very tough opponent, Exeter, coming up. It will give us another bar to figure out where we’re out. We will definitely see where we are at on Monday,” McEowen said.

The Coyotes only put down 13 kills as a team, one less than Vargas.

“Serve receive was where we excelled,” Madera head coach Meghan Haas said. “We had some personnel changes right before warm-ups. We aren’t gelling enough to overcome that kind of stuff. It’s very early. I feel like we’ve had six practices. We have a lot of work to be done and are looking for leadership.”

Madera had the lead only seven times in the match.

The Stallions opened the set with three straight points, including a kill from Vargas. After a Madera missed serve, Vargas served up an ace and Prudente and Kajitani put down kills for a 7-2 lead.

Kylie Bursey put down a kill for the Coyotes to cut the lead to three. A Prudente side out kill led to a Vargas back row kill and a 10-4 lead. Prudente served up a pair of points, including a Vargas kill for a 14-7 lead.

Madera got a side out kill from Aliyah Garcia and another kill from Jazmin Rodriguez to cut the lead to 14-10 before a Vargas side out kill.

A Zoe Rodriguez ace cut the Stallions’ lead to three. After Madera hit out of bounds, Vargas put down a kill to get the lead to eight.

Rodriguez and Vargas exchanged kills and Vargas served up an ace for a 20-13 lead.

Kajitani put down a side out kill and it led to the final four points of the set. Diana Moreno served up two aces, including one to get to set point. Vargas ended the set with a back row kill for a 25-15 win.

In the second set, a kill by Jocelyn Prudente-Martinez and an ace by Vargas gave Madera south a 4-2 lead.

A Kajitani side out kill led to a four-point run with an ace from Moreno and a dual block by Kajitani and Hannah Eades.

Madera took advantage of a Madera South missed serve to score four straight points to cut the lead to one. Zariah Bryant served up an ace in the run.

Kajitani recorded a bump kill after a scramble for a Stallion point. Vargas put down a side out kill and Prudente served up an ace for a 14-9 lead.

Madera cut the lead to three, but that was as close as they would get. Vargas got the side out kill and Elissa Escobar served up a point.

After a Madera missed serve, Vargas served up four straight points with back-to-back aces.

A Morgan Sweet kill led to four straight Madera points with an ace from Estafania Baltazar and cut Madera South’s lead to 21-16.

After a Madera missed serve, Eades put down a kill and Moreno served up an ace to get to set point. Madera scored two points, but Angelina Aguirre put down a Stallions’ kill for a 25-18 win.

Madera’s Karissa Rodriguez served up two points to tie the third set at five. Madera South scored two points, but Bryant served up a point to tie the set. After a Madera South missed serve, Jazmin Rodriguez put down a kill and recorded a solo block for a 10-8 lead.

Vargas put down a kill and Madera hit out of bounds to tie the set at 10. The two teams exchanged missed serves and Madera got another side out for a 12-11 lead.

Madera South scored the next three points with a Vargas ace and a Prudente kill for a 14-12 lead.

Madera kills by Bryant and Alyssa Jimenez gave the Coyotes a 16-15 lead before a side out tied the set at 16.

The two teams were tied at 17 before kills from Prudente and Vargas gave Madera South a 19-17 lead. An Aguirre kill gave Madera South the serve, but Madera got a back row kill from Bryant.

Prudente-Martinez recorded a solo block for the side out and Madera South didn’t give the serve back. With Escobar serving, Vargas found the back line for a kill. Madera hit out of bounds and hit into the net for match point. Another Madera hit out of bounds gave the Stallions the 25-19 victory.