Boys’ volleyball grabs first in league, moving on to CCS

Senior Kali Duvvuri sets a quick 1 for senior middle blocker Scotty Rich

Ending with a season record of 12-3, the team won the league championship for the first time in nine years.

The Falcons won their final game of the league season 3-0 in their May 3 senior night home against Wilcox.

The game had a theme of “white-out,” where all fans showed up in white to support the team. With the El Camino championship already secured, the team wanted to have some fun and mix up their positions for their last night: Senior setter Kali Duvvuri played outside hitter, senior libero Samuel Kau played setter and sophomore outside hitter Jeremy Si played libero.

With half of the players in untraditional positions, the Falcons trailed seven points behind Wilcox for a majority of the first set. However, as they slowly settled into these unfamiliar positions during the second half of the set, key players Norris and Duvvuri led the team to turn the momentum around and produce positive results.

As the electricity of the crowd surged through the packed gym, the team climbed back up from the deficit and took the set 29-27. They carried this momentum with them the rest of the game and won sets 2 and 3 with a score of 25-20 and 26-24 respectively.

Celebrating both senior night and the triumphant outcome of a successful season with a 12-3 record, the team gathered in the gym lobby with food and drinks to commemorate the night.

The team beat Palo Alto 3-1 on May 1, sealing their title as league champions for the first time since 2015 and fourth time in school history. Despite dropping their first set to Palo Alto 25-22, the Falcons bounced back and won three consecutive sets — 25-16, 28-26 and 25-19.

Serving was a weak point for the Falcons initially, as they missed a total of 15 serves in the first two sets. Gathering composure as the game progressed, senior middle blocker Scotty Rich ultimately made a game-winning serve with an ace, a serve where the opponent is unable to return the ball.

“Honestly, I’ve never played in a team with zero toxicity, and this team was the exception,” Norris said. “The bond we have in this group is undefeatable and I’m so grateful to have been able to spend my high school volleyball years with them.”

The Falcons, the No. 7 seed in Division II play, will host No. 10 seed Summit Shasta home on May 6 at 6 p.m. in the first round of CCS.