By GERARDO RECINOS
Martinez Tribune
When the Warriors are missing Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson is asked to step up. When Alhambra is missing Will Jochum, he has a whole host of teammates who can back him up.
The Bulldogs’ second-round North Coast Section 3-0 win over Sir Francis Drake-San Anselmo on May 13 came without one of their leaders in the opening stages of the match.
Will Jochum dislocated his thumb in the first set of the easy win, but he was backed up by a few of the senior leaders.
Seniors Kyle Magtibay and Jerald Jionoran filled the “Klay Thompson role” by racking up 14 and 13 kills respectively, which were dished out by Savion Prieto, who had 42 assists.
The Bulldogs made easy work of Drake early on, but the Pirates didn’t just lay down and allow the Bulldogs to run away with the match.
They got solid hitting on the outside, and despite trailing for the entire set, they nearly stole one.
They got a kill from senior JD Hennessey to take a temporary 23-22 lead, but the Bulldogs got back to back kills from Jionoran on the back of a serving error to win the set.
Alhambra took a big lead off the bat with kills from Jochum and Jionoran leading Alhambra into a big lead.
More solid play by defensive players like Alin Torio helped Alhambra withstand and attack from the upstart Pirates who played like a team with no expectations on them like the number-one seed Bulldogs do.
However Alhambra continued to play the way they have all season, loose and relaxed all they way to another set win. They weren’t troubled much from that point on.
In the third set, the Bulldogs went for the kill. Seniors Jochum, Nick Lucido and Christian Cota each had a kill in a 10-3 run that put the Pirates on edge right away.
Drake fought back, and to their credit made the match closer than any spectator expected it to be, but in the end the Bulldog boys pulled out the win on the back of a spectacular hitting display by nearly every member on the team.
The win was capped off by a tremendous block by Jochum to seal the win, and to give Alhambra its 28th set win in the last month of action.
Since their stunning loss to Las Lomas on April 14, not only has Alhambra only been beaten twice during that time, but they’ve only dropped seven sets in 35 total sets across 12 matches.
They Bulldog win gives them a chance to avenge last year’s playoff loss to Campolindo. This time Alhambra hosted the Cougars, who they’ve beaten twice in 2016.
*Results from the match between the Bulldogs and Cougars on May 17, please see page eight.
