On Tuesday Oct. 31, the night of Halloween, girls volleyball faced the Homestead Mustangs in the first round of CCS playoffs, which would allow the winner to move on into CCS semifinals.
“We came pretty prepared, we knew what we had to execute, and we knew what we had to do to get done [and] earn [the] win,” junior and Defensive Specialist Alex Sakamoto said.
According to junior libero Kendyll Winn, Mountain View was seeded fourth and Homestead fifth.
After parents settled into the stands, some dressed as spartans, 90’s style boombox carrying dancers, and one as PAC-MAN, the crowd hushed in anticipation of the opening serve.
The Spartans started off strong, scoring the first point of the game, but the Mustangs soon returned the favor by scoring a point of their own, bringing the score to 1-1.
Back-and-forth scoring between the Spartans and Mustangs continued, with the score rising to 2-2, then 3-3, until MVHS began to gain a lead of 7-3, which they later expanded to 12-4.
“It was a little close,” junior and Defensive Specialist Alex Sakamoto said. “They had a lot of errors, so we knew we had to clean it up because they’re gonna start fighting.”
MVHS carried its lead, reaching 20-14, and closed the first set with a score of 25-20.
“We just had to play smart [and] play clean to minimize errors on our side,” Sakamoto said.
The Mustangs began the second set by taking the first serve, and soon won the point. After more back-and-forth scoring, MVHS began to take the lead, bringing the score to 8-5.
The Mustangs, however, began to claw back points, and soon equalized the score at 9-9, which they then followed up with four consecutive points, giving them their first lead of the game.
Homestead never gave the lead back, winning the second set 23-25. Winn said losing the second set made the Spartans hungry and increased their drive to win.
We just had to play smart [and] play clean to minimize errors on our side. — Alex Sakamoto
Undaunted, the Mustangs tied the score at 10-10, and the two teams traded points until the Spartans began to maintain a slight lead, and with the crowd cheering “let’s go spartans,” they did not disappoint as they won their second set at 25-21.
Having found their stride, the Spartans scored the first point of the fourth set, and never looked back, winning the set with a score of 25-20,winning the game.
“We used our [hunger] and all that emotion and stuff because our season was on the line, so we really wanted to prove this and win,” Winn said.
