Chants of “overrated” could be heard from the student section during a timeout following sophomore Jeremy Si’s monumental block against Los Altos’ main outside hitter and UCI D1 commit Aiden Cuppett on April 26. 

The Falcons — in first place in the El Camino Division —  faced off against the Eagles, the second-place team. Despite the good fight put up by Los Altos, the Falcons won the game 3-0, giving them a very high chance at securing their first divisional win in nine years. 

Courtesy of Ken Kau

Sophomore Jeremy Si blocks Los Altos’ Aiden Cuppett in the middle of the third set.

In the first set, the Falcons started with good momentum, leading 18-13 when the Eagles called their first timeout. The Falcons took a victory in the first set, with senior Eric Norris tying off the set by serving three aces in a row, which is where the server serves such a powerful serve that the receivers on the opposite side could not bring it back up. 

Courtesy of Ethan Canahuati

Senior Eric Norris prepares to serve the ball.

The second set was much closer, with points being scored back and forth. Early on, the Eagles got a 13-12 lead, forcing the Falcons to call a timeout. After the timeout, the Falcons pushed ahead, gaining back the lead 20-15 and forcing an Eagle timeout. After the timeout, the Eagles continued to fight back, yet the Falcons took the second set 25-20. 

Courtesy of Ethan Canahuati

Freshman Ahmed Abdalla and Edmond Hsu go up to block the opposing hitter.

The Falcons had a slow start in the third set, trailing Los Altos 8-4 at one point. At that point, the Falcons began picking up their game, taking back the lead 13-12 and making the Eagles call another timeout. 

After the timeout, there was little time left in the game, with the score constantly being tied. After reaching the 20-point mark, the Falcons completely locked in their focus, pushing their way to the win, beating Los Altos 25-20 in the third set and 3-0 overall, securing the victory.

Courtesy of Ethan Canahuati

The Falcons huddle to regain momentum.

The last time the Falcons faced Los Altos on March 29, they lost 3-0. Senior captain and libero Sam Kau said the Falcons upped their game considerably since that defeat.

“Last time when we faced them, we didn’t have our main outside hitter, Eric Norris, but even then, we still held up pretty well against them but couldn’t get the win,” Kau said. “Before this game, we worked a lot on triple blocking which helped a lot in defending against their main outside, Aiden Cuppett [UCI D1 commit]. During the game, I think our serving and serve receiving went really well and our defense was pretty solid.” 

With this win, the Falcons reached double-digit wins and extended their winning streak to 5 games. Senior captain and setter Kali Duvvuri put this win as one of the most important ones of the season.

“Los Altos was only one game behind us, so if we lost, they would be tied with us in terms of record, which is a big threat for us winning league,” Duvvuri said. “Winning this game was so crucial as they are the last of the stronger teams we have to face in our league season and this win means another loss for them, putting them further down in the standings, and giving us a very good chance at securing a league win.”