The MVHS girls volleyball team walked into the gym on Sept. 14, hoping to beat the team that they had lost to for the past 20 years. The only time MVHS ever won against opponent Los Gatos HS was in the 2016-2017 season, and the team wanted to continue their previous success.

Even though MVHS showed outstanding defense, they fell short to LGHS, losing in a close 3-2 game. The girls had a slow start, losing the first set 25-19, but slowly got back into the game as it went on, but it wasn’t enough.

“I think our defense was amazing today, we never had better defense than this game,” sophomore Anumita Alur said. “I think in terms of pass, set, hit, we were doing pretty well, but there were a lot of unforced errors”.

As errors increased on the Matador side, the bench, Matador fans and players started to lose enthusiasm and excitement. As the game continued, the team got back into their rhythm, performing the pass, set, hit combination smoothly and seamlessly.

MVHS used this game to improve on weaknesses, and many players were assigned to play unfamiliar positions, so that they could improve. Junior Emerald Lam, was not so strong at defense, so she played defense.

“I do not usually play back row, today was the first day that I actually did it, so that was really cool, so I think improving on my backrow would help me,” Lam said.

Despite the loss, Alur is looking forward to play their next game against Los Altos HS. Alur believes that the team can hold its ground against LAHS, and hopes the next game will create another opportunity for her to work on her hitting.

“I think our next game is against Los Altos and we have not really done very well with them throughout the years,” Alur said, “so I am really charged up for that game.”