Boys volleyball tries to spike to perfection (3/09)

By Natalie Luu

Mar. 20, 2009

     In the closest game the boys have played this year, the Cardinals defeated the Lincoln Mustangs on March 11 to seal their first AAA win.
     It was the team’s first time this year playing a fifth set.      The Mustangs proved to be a challenge for the Cardinals, according to senior middle blocker Jonathon Li. “They were a lot better than I expected,” he said. “It was a real test of our team’s skill.”
     Even though Lincoln seemed to be a threat for the Cardinals, the boys’ determination stumped the Ponies and prevailed in the last set. “We had to stay consistent and work together,” senior middle block Christopher Leung said. “Staying focused was most important.”
     The team did not let the fact that they were head-to-head with Lincoln balancing the two losses and two wins in sets cloud their view of a Cardinal victory.
     However, in the second and fourth sets, the boys’ errors allowed Lincoln to score the point the Mustangs needed to win, a weakness in the Cardinal defense. “I could see confusion and too much thinking in our team’s eyes,” Leung said.
     The boys determined to limit those mistakes and won a set after every lost set, allowing them to win the game. “The first and third sets were played consistently,” Li said.
     The Cardinals found major flaws in the Lincoln defense that they used to dominate the game. “The third passer in the back couldn’t pass, so we kept hitting it to him,” Leung said.   According to Leung, the Mustangs also seemed too cheerful during the game, playing with hubris. The Mustangs’ underestimation led them to their defeat.
     One word could describe the game against Kennedy High School on March 6 — effortless. “We won really easily,” junior opposite hitter Alvin Ho said. “They weren’t a strong team.”
     Since they felt that they would win the game without a doubt, the Cardinals missed being challenged. “I felt bored at that game,” Leung said. “It didn’t feel like it was worth playing.”
     The boys’ great start fueled the coach’s confidence of the team. Head coach Steven Wesley uses the games against weaker teams, such as Cupertino High School, to test new formations. “We ran new plays against them,” Li said. “Because of our huge lead, the coach felt it was a perfect time to experiment.
     Even though the boys still won the match with impressive scores of 25-14, 25-9 and 25-10, the team underestimated Cupertino High and lost the third set against the Pioneers 23-25. The Cardinals played less instinctively. “We spent too much time letting our heads take over,” Leung said. “It was no excuse to lose.”
     Despite their winning streak in the start of the preseason, on March 2 the team realized they couldn’t play on assumptions in a disappointing defeat against Serra High School. “We didn’t play our best that game,” Ho said. “It was a learning experience.”
     In a heart-pounding game on Feb. 26, the boys faced Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, a West Catholic Athletic League team. The Cardinals defeated the Irish by an impressive score of 3-1 in games. The Cardinals ran away with the Irish’s pot of gold in the last set with a mind-blowing score of 25 to 14. They had never beaten Sacred Heart before.
     However, early in the game they had to regroup their defense, as they lost their first set 23-25. “For the first game, we started off too slow and were trailing,” Ho said.
     According to Li, Sacred Heart played consistently and the Cardinals needed to even out their performance. “It felt like we spent most of the games trying to play catch-up,” he said.
     The boys made a huge comeback from the loss of the first set by establishing their dominance in the second and third games. “We talked and executed when needed,” Li said. “We were more consistent.”
     Although the Cardinals undoubtedly consist of many skilled players, they will plan to work on their consistency, according to Li. Their wins in the preseason and regular season have proven their prowess.
     Come support the Cardinals at 4:00 p.m. today in a home game against the O’Connell Boilermakers.

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