Toros drop volleyball match to Bears

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Matilda Torres’ Bryance Gonzalez reaches up for a tip kill during Wednesday’s loss to the Selma Bears. Gonzalez had three kills in the loss.

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After the high of recording the first league win in the program’s history, Matilda Torres Toros girls volleyball coach Adam Horner was optimistic heading into a non-conference match with the Selma Bears.

Unfortunately, after the three-set loss to the Bears, Horner had more questions than answers.

The Toros were only outhit 20-16 in kills, but it was the numerous mental mistakes by Torres that led to their downfall.

They allowed 10 aces and fell victim to five dump kills from the Selma setter. Too many times, the Toros just mishit the ball and didn’t allow for an attack.

Torres gets right back to action during their busiest week of the season. After defeating Roosevelt-Fresno on Tuesday and falling to Selma on Wednesday, Torres faced McLane-Fresno on Thursday and will play in the Madera Classic at Madera South this weekend.

Alexis Barriga led the Toros with six kills, and also led with five aces.

Mistakes really hut the Toros in the first set. Three aces and three mental errors led to a 9-2 Selma lead. A ball into the net and a dump kill gave the Bears a 13-4 lead.

Barriga recorded an side out kill and an ace, but the Toros trailed 15-7.

Two aces, a ball into the net and a ball out of bounds helped the Bears take a 20-7 lead.

Aida Aquino served up two points, but the Bears got the side out and scored two more points.

Sabrina Cerrillo put down a side out kills, but a Selma dump kill and a kill on set point led to a 25-11 Bears’ victory.

The Toros jumped out to the early lead in the second set. Samaria Benevides put down a kill and Barriga served up three straight aces for a 5-1 lead. Ariana Varela served up an ace in a two-point run for an 8-2 lead.

Srah Guillen added another ace for an 11-3 Toros lead.

From there, Selma began to chip away. They got a side out and added three straight points before a Bryance Gonzalez tip kill gave the Toros a side out. Varela put down a kill for a 14-9 lead.

The Bears eventually tied the set at 16 and took an 8-16 lead. The two teams exchanged missed serves and the Bears opened a 20-18 lead before a Cerrillo side out kill.

Gonzalez put down a kill to cut the lead to one. After three straight side outs, the Bears served up an ace and the Toros hit into the net for set point.

Selma missed its serve and Barriga put down a kill. However, Selma put down a kill for a 25-22 win.

In the third set, Barriga served up an ace and Guillen served up four straight points for an 8-3 lead. Guillen had an ace and Cerrillo put down two kills.

The Bears cut the lead to two before a pair of Barriga side out kills. A Guillen side out kill gave the Toros a 14-12 lead.

Guillen served up a point for a 16-13 lead. However, the Bears scored seven straight points to take a 20-16 lead.

A Barriga kill cut the Bears’ lead to two, but the Toros couldn’t cut into thelead. The teams exchanged five straight side outs that led to a Bears’ match point. A kill gave the Bears a 25-21 victory, and the match sweep.