MVHS’s varsity girls volleyball team lost their game to Los Gatos on Tuesday night, in a 3-0 loss.
The Spartans started off the game with a strong serve but then lost the ball, giving Los Gatos the first point. Los Gatos continued to further their lead against the Spartans, which girls volleyball head coach Dave Winn attributed to MVHS’s weak “serve-receives.”
“Our hitters were trying to hit more areas of the court than we normally did,” Dave Winn said.
MVHS was able to catch up to Los Gatos’ lead in the later parts of the set. However, the Spartans were still behind, and lost the first set with a score of 25-17.
Dave Winn said that the team’s offensive performance was much stronger going into the second set.
More student supporters and members of 6th Man, MVHS’s student-run sports spirit club, filled the seats as the game went on, dressed in brightly-colored outfits for the game’s neon theme.
“[The crowd’s energy] adds to what we’re trying to create on the court, that good vibe and good energy,” junior Alex Sakamoto said.
The Spartans were able to equalize the score early on in the second set, and then took the lead by one point, making the score 3-2.
Los Gatos gained momentum and took the lead, until Sakamoto tied the score again with two strong serves, followed by a spike over the net by junior Mallory Berent.
With the scoreboard set at 14-13, MVHS took the lead by a few points more when Los Gatos dealt two weak serves.
The Spartans’ lead didn’t last long however, and the game came to a tie again, both teams tied with 19 points. As Los Gatos began to take the lead once again, junior Ada Tulac made a block that gave another point to MVHS.
However, Los Gatos’ lead increased, and the score rose to 24-21.
With only one point needed for Los Gatos to end the set, Sakamoto was able to get MVHS another point with a strong serve. However, the Spartans weren’t able to seal the gap between them and the other team, and Los Gatos got the last point, ending the set with a score of 25-22.
“We had some good stretches in that second set, where we pushed them a little bit, made them make some errors,” Dave Winn said. “But we still threw too many points away.”
The third set started off strong, with the Spartans gaining the first point, and then another when senior Emma Zhang dove for a ball, followed by a set over the net by captain and junior Kendyll Winn.
The Spartan’s initial lead was met with an even stronger force from Los Gatos, bumping the score to 5-2 with the opposing team in the lead.
As the set progressed, Los Gatos continued to further their lead against MVHS. .
Still, the Spartans were able to get some points back through blocks by Berent and Tulac, combatting Los Gatos’ powerful spikes.
Sakamoto said that despite Los Gatos’ strong offense, the Spartans continued to motivate each other and keep the energy up on the court.
“I always come [to the court] calm. I can’t be nervous,” Sakamoto said. “I try to spread some good energy.”
Los Gatos pushed ahead of MVHS once again, bringing the score to 24-18, at the game point. Junior Emmy Thomander staved off Los Gatos’ attempt to win by tapping the ball over the net to gain a point for MVHS. However, Los Gatos soon took the last point, ending the game with a final set score of 25-19, and winning the match 3-0.
MVHS’s Kendyll Winn took the title of Mountain View’s player of the match.
“Kendyll did a really nice job against some really good hitters, especially since [she] hits the ball about 80,000 miles per hour,” Dave Winn said.
Dave Winn said that in the future, the team wants to work on connecting passes and serves to tie the game together and come out with more wins later in the season.
“Los Gatos is a good team,” Sakamoto said. “If we played a little bit cleaner it would’ve been a lot closer, and I think we could’ve come out with a [win].”
