Torres volleyball showing improvement

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Matilda Torres’ Samaria Benavidez sets up the offense in Thursday’s loss to Chowchilla.

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Although the Matilda Torres Toros girls volleyball team was losing late in a match against the Chowchilla Tribe, one wouldn’t know it by hearing the enthusiastic cheering coming from the bench.

The Toros used that enthusiasm to almost outscore Chowchilla after falling behind 11-1 in the third set Thursday night. They lost the match, 25-10, 25-15, 25-16, but scored the most points of the season.

“I tell them the more games they play, the more things they see and the better they will be to react to it,” head coach Adam Horner said. “We served well. If we can get our betters servers out there, we can run off some points, for sure.”

Alexis Barriga had a season-high six kills for the Toros. As a team, the Toros put down 14 kills for a season high, which matched the total for Chowchilla.

“Jump high, swing hard,” Horner said. “That’s what we preach.”

What set the Tribe apart from the Toros was the service line. The Tribe recorded nine aces while Torres had three, in addition to seven missed serves.

What also hurt the Toros was miscommunication on the defensive end. Too many times balls just fell on their own end. There were 13 of those errors in the match, in addition to hitting the ball into the net eight times.

In the first set, Chowchilla went on a seven-point run for an early 8-1 lead.

Analise Cerillo put down a bump kill for a side out and Sol Barrera served up a point to cut the lead to six. After Chowchilla extended the lead to seven, Bryance Gonzales put down a side out kill.

The Tribe scored six straight points for a 19-7 lead before the Toros could get a side out.

Gonzales served up an ace, but the Tribe scored six of the next seven points, including a kill after a long rally, for the 25-10 victory.

Torres battled with the Tribe early in the second set, but had trouble hitting the ball over the net. They hit the ball into the net to give Chowchilla three of its first seven points.

After a pair of missed Tribe serves, Barriga put down a kill to cut the lead to three. After a side out and a Chowchilla point, Barriga put down another kill for a side out. Samaria Benavidez served up a point to cut the lead to three.

Chowchilla got the side out and served up an ace before Barriga put down another kill. However, the Tribe got the serve and put the game away by scoring five straight points for an 18-9 lead.

Cerillo stopped the run with a kill down the line. Chowchilla was called for a back row attack and Barriga stuffed a Chowchilla attack for a three-point run to cut the lead to six.

After a trade in side outs, Chowchilla served up two aces in a row for a 22-13 lead.

Gonzales got a side out kill, but the Tribe got one of their own. Sabrina Cerillo got the side out for the Toros with a kill.

However a missed Torres serve and a Chowchilla ace ended the set, 25-15.

Chowchilla kept the momentum going in the third set by scoring the first seven points of the set. After a Torres service error, Chowchilla scored three more points for an 11-1 lead.

From there, Torres outscored the Tribe 15-14.

Stephanie Venegas started the Torres run with a kill. Larissa Delgado served up a point and Barriga put down a kill to cut the lead to seven.

After a trade in side outs, Barrera served up two aces in a four-point run. Barriga had another kill to cut the Chowchilla lead to three.

The Tribe got a tip kill and an ace to get the lead back to six. Barriga served up a point to stay within four.

However, the Tribe scored five straight points for a 21-12 lead.

The Toros didn’t go away. The two teams exchanged five straight side outs with Cerillo serving up a point to cut the lead to 23-16. The Tribe closed the match with a kill and an ace for the 25-16 victory.