Girls Volleyball: Benicia Takes Match Against Hogan

Benicia 3, Hogan 1

Records: 4-2, 4-1 SCAC; Hogan 2-5, 2-3 

The Star: Tyler Gasologa had 11 assists and kept the ball alive during some of the Panthers more trying rallies.

The Turning Point: After pulling away to a 10-4 lead in the final set, Benicia allowed Hogan to close within one point, but ultimately pulled away to win it by 11 points.

The Quote: "I was changing the lineup in and out and I thought everyone went in and took care of their job the best they could,"Benicia coach Jamie Hadenfeldt said.

 Who's Next? Benicia will host Vanden Thursday with the junior varsity starting at 3:45 p.m. and the varsity to follow.

The Bottom Line: The Panthers will need to control their mistakes in their next match against the conference-leading Vikings to beat them.

——————————————

For the Benicia High girls volleyball team, Tuesday's home game against Hogan was all about taking advantage of miscues.

The Panthers, who had their share of inconsistent play as well,  capitalized on several Hogan mistakes en route to the 3-1 Solano County Athletic Conference victory.

"It happens. Mistakes are made," Benicia coach Jamie Hadenfeldt said. "They maintained their composure good. They didn't let anything keep them defeated even after losing a set, they came back out there and  kept fighting, pushing, responding well to adversity. I thought they did a good job."

The Panthers handedly took the first set 25-17 but got challenged by Hogan in the second.  Hogan was a point away from taking the set, 24-22, but collapsed on the next four points and lost 26-24.

Hogan won the third set, but Benicia finished the final set on a 15-4 run to close the match.

"We just try to force their mistakes on them," outside hitter Alex Gasologa said. "We're still working on it as team but I think it's coming together."

Hadenfeldt acknowledged that the Spartans got a lot of touches on their shots, which at times was bothersome for their style of play.

"Sometimes as an offensive team when you're hitting the ball and the other team is getting a lot of touches it's easy to get frustrated, but our girls just stayed focus and played up to it," she said. "It's good that they were in it for the long haul and in the end they came out successful."

Erin Judd had six blocks and eight kills. Gasologa notched 11 assists and Mical Beckemeyer was a visible defensive presence at the net, contributing a lot more on the court for the Panthers than what appeared to be five blocks on the stat sheet.

"Mical did a good job defensively at the net," Hadenfeldt said. "We've been working on making sure she's an option offensively (also).

————————

Follow Patch Sports East Bay on Twitter