Boys’ volleyball off to promising start

The boys’ volleyball team has started the season off strong, winning several preseason games against higher-league teams, with an overall record of 11-7 as of March 27. To make CCS, the team will need to win its league since they are in the lower division.

On March 27, the team played Valley Christian, one of the best teams in the league, at home, winning 3-0.

“It was generally a great effort from us,” junior setter Chester Leung said. “We played hard and won.”

Even though the boys worked together as a whole, Leung believes one thing the team should improve on is involving the middle blocker in the plays more.

Two days before, the boys beat Los Altos, the top team in the league, 3-1. Los Altos was missing its best player, junior Nathan Smith.

“We won relatively easily, but we let up too much in the third set so we lost [the third set],” Leung said. “We just need to maintain high energy and stay focused.”

On March 23, the team competed against King’s Academy, a team that has just dropped down from a higher league. SHS won 25-8 in all three sets.

“They hung with us for a little bit of the first set,” Leung said. “But once we got going, we kept pushing, and they couldn't keep up.”

The Falcons played its first league game against Santa Clara on March 18, which the Falcons easily won 25-8 in all three sets.

On March 14, the team participated in the Battle of the Bay, a tournament for high schools in Northern California. Saratoga faced Carmel High School, Pacific Collegiate High School, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Homestead High School and Mt. Madonna High School.

The team’s first match of the tournament was against Bellarmine, one of the best high school teams in the area. Bellarmine competes in the A league, while Saratoga competes in the C league. The Falcons played well, leading for most of the game despite the fight Bellarmine put up. Toward the end, however, the point gap closed. The game ended with scores of 25-22 and 33-31, the win going to the Bells.

“We're generally a no-name school in volleyball because we haven't had a history of winning or being good, until last year when we won leagues,” Leung explained. “Everyone in the gym was surprised that we could compete with Bellarmine at such a high level. Everyone on our team really stepped up during that game.”

With the absence of senior outside hitter Michael Cole and others due to vacations, SAT and other conflicts, the Falcons finished third overall in the tournament. However, the team remains optimistic for its future performances, as the Bellarmine game served as a big confidence boost.

“Ultimately we lost but I think the game showed us what we had as a team, that our highest level of play could compete with some of the best teams in the area,” Leung said.

Due to printing deadlines, the Falcon was unable to cover the March 31 game against Fremont, the April 1 game against Wilcox High School, the April 2 game against Menlo-Atherton High School and the April 3 game against Cupertino High School. The team takes on Los Altos on April 17 and Santa Clara on April 22.