After a win over Los Gatos on April 2, the Falcons find themselves in second place in the De Anza league and in a good position for CCS, which begins May 6. Despite several injured players, the team has come out strong in the second half of their season, with better teamwork and more wins. Although they suffered a disappointing loss in the Charger Classic tournament in mid-April, the SHS team rallied to beat Mountain View the following week and kept their second-place ranking in the league. Homestead High continues to hold their coveted first-place spot as league matches come to a close on tpday with a final game against Los Gatos.

“Recently we beat Los Gatos in three games, which was really good because we hadn’t beat them for a long time until last year,” said senior middle hitter Andy Capek. “Last year we won, but this year we just destroyed them.”

4/19 Saratoga 3, Mountain View 1

In their first game after one week off, the team was unable to pull out an easy win over Mountain View. Sluggish playing in the first two games barely ensured narrow wins for the Falcons, but they lost the third game 25-19 to Mountain View. In the final game, SHS seniors Mike Vetrone, Doug Sabella, and Capek dominated the court, making a total of 8 blocks and 42 kills to lead the Falcons to a 25-22 win.
“We have all been playing for a year together so we know what everyone’s tendencies are,” said Capek. “We just want to win and go to CCS—it’s good drive.”

4/13 Charger Classic Tournament

On April 13, the team attended the Charger Classic tournament at Leland where they played teams from cities as close as Los Gatos and as far as Fresno. After wins over Prospect High School and Placer High School, the Falcons lost to Bullard High School from Fresno, a team that went to the finals of the tournament. After this first disappointing loss, SHS lost 0-2 to reigning tournament champions Bellarmine. Seniors Sabella and Capek led the team with a total of 38 kills and 6 blocks throughout the weekend tournament.

“We played Bellarmine and lost to them but we beat other teams,” said Capek. “When we made it to bracket play, we played a team from Fresno, who was amazing—they won the whole game. It just sucked that we had to play them first because we could have beaten the other teams.”

4/2 Saratoga 3, Los Gatos 0

The Falcons had their season highlight with their first shutout against Los Gatos. The Wildcats have traditionally been a prime rival and top team, making this win an especially satisfying victory for the Falcons.