No. 7 Monache pulls out sweep of No. 10 Madera

The fight seventh-seeded Monache High School volleyball showed in their 3-0 sweep of 10thseeded Madera in Thursday’s CIF Central Section Division II opening round game at home, demonstrated just how badly the Marauders want to win this season.

“These girls are hungry,” MHS head coach Rosalia Quinones said. “We want to get to that semifinal, even to Valley. We’re hungry to challenge maybe even [defending champion] Exeter. [Three of my] seniors have been varsity for four years and they want to go there. We want a ring. The girls want a ring.”

Staying focused was important for the East Yosemite League champion Marauders (27-5, 10-0 EYL) as they came from behind in both the second and third set to win the match in three sets 25-14, 27-25 and 30-28.

“Madera picked it up,” Quinones said. “It’s really nothing that we were not executing there. Their big hitter [Isabella Saucedo] was executing and they picked up their defense and they kind of got the flow of what we were running. We struggled a little bit too with passing, serving too. Missed some critical serves. But the team came together and executed and gosh, come back from a deficit [of 23-16] and that’s unbelievable. These girls did not want to go a fourth set.”

Madera (22-11) led nearly the entire third set but even with six and seven point leads, the Coyotes could not put Monache away as the Marauders picked their heads up and cleaned up their mistakes.

After Madera scored their 23rd point on a short serve from MHS senior Hailey Kelley, Monache rallied and scored the next three points on a kill from sophomore Kailyn Castle, a tip from junior Hally Flynn and an ace from junior Kristen Watson. The Coyotes picked up another point on a kill but kills from MHS senior Madisyn Baxter and Castle, a Madera double contact violation and a block from Baxter gave the Marauders a 25-24 lead.

For the rest of the match the two team’s traded points with Monache’s crowd exploding with enthusiasm along with the players, as the Marauders scored each one of their points. Finally with the score tied at 28-28, MHS junior Tia Jules scored back-to-back points on a tip and a kill for Monache’s win.

Baxter led the team with 13 kills and six blocks. Kelley finished with 11 kills, seven digs and two blocks while junior Hally Flynn

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CHIEKO HARA Above: Monache High School’s Hally Flynn and Gabriella Cox, right, celebrates with Tia Jules. Below: Monache High School’s Tia Jules spikes a ball for the game-winning point Thursday during the third set of a game against Madera High School in the opening round of the CIF Central Section Division II playoffs at Monache.