After a hard fought match of many ups and downs at home on Oct. 2, the Falcons, currently 3-4 in the El Camino league, narrowly pulled off a 3-2 win against second-place Santa Clara thanks to the strong performances of players like juniors middle Aanya Hotha and setter Iris Jin, sophomore outside hitter Chloe Zeng and freshman outside hitter Siena Baldwin.
Right from the start, the game was competitive as the Bruins came out with strong momentum, earning them a 3-point lead. The Falcons quickly recovered thanks to strong coordination during quick attacks from Jin to Hotha.
For a few minutes, neither team could pull definitively ahead of the other. However, the Falcons could rely on Zeng to earn points for the Falcons through powerful cross-court spikes.
The Falcons finally managed to pull ahead after a back row attack by Zeng and a dive from junior libero Morgan Li, followed by a quick attack by Hotha, allowing the Falcons to gain a 21-16 lead. The set was by no means over — the Bruins managed to exploit a large hole in the middle of the Falcons’ formation, earning three points.
Jin, who had rotated to play opposite hitter, faced up against two blockers and struggled to penetrate. However, after a strong jump float serve by Jin, freshman outside hitter Siena Baldwin performed a powerful line hit, a point that cemented the first set for the Falcons 25-23.
The Falcons, invigorated by their win of the first set, started off with an 6-0 advantage in the second set, including an ace by Jin and strong blocks by Baldwin and Hotha. The Bruins showed signs of a comeback, but a bounce by Jin and Baldwin kept them in the lead 15-11. The Falcons’ weakness against tips in the first set reappeared, as the Bruins brought the lead back down to two with a score of 18-16 after several tips into empty space.
Against relentless pressure from the Bruins, Jin helped tie the set at 23-23, but the team came up short as the Falcons lost the second set 25-23.
“We need cleaner passes, because we lost a lot of points on serves. This made it so that we were out of system a lot of the time, so our setter and hitter weren’t able to do their jobs as well,” Jin said.
The third set started off fairly even, with Baldwin keeping up the pressure with hits from the outside. After an ace by Zeng and several forceful attacks by Baldwin, the Falcons led 17-14.
“During set three, we just weren’t loud enough — both the players and the bench. This resulted in a lot of miscommunication, letting balls drop between two defenders when we should have won those points,” Baldwin said. “Their bench was overwhelmingly loud, so until our bench stepped up, our team faced a lot of pressure from the Bruins’ bench.”
The Falcons lost their advantage after several poor passes and miscommunication, allowing the Bruins to take a 23-19 lead. A tip into the undefended middle from the Bruins wrapped up the set with a 25-20 loss for the Falcons.
But the fourth set started off with huge momentum for the Falcons, with Zeng’s relentless pressure allowing for a 12-2 start due to relentless strong attacks from Hotha, Baldwin and Zeng. However, the team continued suffering from poor passes and miscommunication causing the Bruins to quickly catch up and tie the game at 20-20.
Nearing the end, Bruins accelerated their pace and had a 3-point lead , 23-20. However, experienced and collected, Hotha managed to pull off two aces that brought the game back tied at 23-23.
In the last two points of the set, Zeng spiked deep into a corner of the court, tooling the opposing defender and causing it to go out. It helped the Falcons win this crucial set leading up to the final one.
In the fifth set, Bruins quickly took a 3-point lead, with Baldwin missing a serve and a hit. Hotha quickly helped tie the game with a block and a strong hit.
A strong hit and serve from Zeng quickly locked the game evenly, 11-11. Two blocks and a strong serve from Jin allowed the Falcons to usurp the Bruins and come out with the victory with a final score of 15-12.
Despite the win, the Falcons still aim to refine details of their game.
“We’re going to continue working on our passing and coordination between players, which will help us in our upcoming games,” coach Lori Gragnola said. “Throughout this game, our bench steadily improved and got louder, which helped players get more energy.”
The Falcons will next play an away game against Fremont on Oct. 8.
