Despite winning in three consecutive sets during its previous match against the Gunn Titans (4-4), the Palo Alto High School varsity boys' volleyball team (5-4) stumbled early and ultimately suffered a 3-1 defeat Monday at an away rematch.
“I think we played to our level,” head coach Ed Yeh said. “I think Gunn just played a little bit better today.”
A miscommunication surrounding the game’s start time and the subsequent late arrival of the Paly team delayed the match by over 30 minutes, resulting in a shortened warm-up for the Vikings, which set the team up for a shaky start.
“I always think warming up is a very important part of how the game goes,” junior outside hitter Owen Rice said. “If you don’t get a good warm up or you kind of rush into it [the game], you’re almost expecting to play rushed. That definitely impacted at least the first couple sets.”
The Titans quickly took the lead in the first set, playing solid defense and not allowing Paly a kill until the Titans had already racked up seven points. Though Paly made few unforced errors and was able to control the ball in serve-receive, the team struggled to put pressure on Gunn’s defense. The Titans' own errors contributed to a majority of Paly’s points, while the Titans effectively targeted holes in the Viking defense, resulting in a Titan victory in the first set, 25-17.
Gunn carried its momentum into the beginning of the second set, leading by as much as five points early on. However, the Vikings quickly retaliated with multiple kills from junior right side hitter Evan Passalacqua and senior outside hitter Finn Hadly, putting the Vikings up for the first time in the match and prompting Gunn to call a timeout with the Vikings leading 10-8.
“Finn is warm!” Yeh exclaimed from inside the team huddle during the timeout, which followed an ace from Hadly.
Rice, who had 10 kills for the night, attributed the Viking comeback to a change in mindset.
“Everyone started lifting each other up and I think everyone started communicating on the court a lot more,” Rice said. “I think it definitely helps when the morale goes up.”
Although Paly kept pace with Gunn for much of the second set, Gunn ultimately pulled away thanks to multiple strategic kills and points from a few unforced errors by the Vikings. The second set ended in another Viking loss, 20-25.
“Sometimes you just kind of get unlucky, and errors come in a row,” Hadly, who contributed a total of 10 kills, said. “You were up by a lot and then you get down.”
The Vikings entered the third set fully warmed up and ready to compete, gaining an early lead, which they maintained for most of the set. However, despite the team’s four point lead at 20-16, two missed serves by Paly combined with two kills and an ace by Gunn closed the gap to a 21-21 tie. Despite a back and forth struggle, Paly pulled through and finished 25-23, thanks to a few kills from Passalacqua, who totaled 13 kills for the night.
The competition was neck and neck in the beginning of the fourth set, with the Vikings trailing by just one point at 9-10. However, the Titans pulled away to a 11-19 lead with several kills and very few errors. Although Paly closed the lead slightly with kills from Rice, Hadly and Passalacqua, the Titans powered through and won the fourth set 25-19, resulting in an overall victory three sets to one.
“We lost that first set pretty hard but we came back the second set [and] won the third, so that’s a lot of perseverance,” assistant coach Tyler Yen said.
According to Yeh, the Vikings hope to power through their next games and break their losing streak, but more importantly, have a good time playing volleyball.
“I think the goal this whole season for all the teams is just to have fun, win or lose,” Yeh said. “Everybody wants to win, but if they’re playing well and they have fun, that’s all they can ask for.”
The Vikings will face off against Los Altos next at 7 p.m. Thursday at home.
Credits:
Ethan Hwang