Varsity Boys Volleyball defeated Carmel High School 3-0 during CCS Semifinals on Thursday, May 9. Although CHS was able to have periods of time when they scored many points, Monta Vista was able to regain control and ultimately win all three sets.
Senior and outside hitter Elijah Kang says that staying mentally focused throughout the entire game is important. However, Kang says their preparation before this game was what ultimately led to their victory, as the team was able to pass well and perform well defensively.
Sophomore and middle blocker Pratham Kannan agrees, saying that analyzing footage from CHS’ other games was also beneficial. Additionally, both Kannan and Kang believe that the use of a serving machine during practice helped them drill their serve receive.
“The serving machine serves balls 10 times harder than any human server, so going from the serving machine to a game definitely helped,” Kannan said. “We had a lot of reps, a lot of drills to give that game-like feeling.”
Head Coach Paul Chiu says he appreciates the team’s dedication and persistence during their CCS run this year. Chiu says that the team consistently puts in the work, which he believes allows them to achieve success during their games.
“Even during bad games, there’s a tremendous effort,” Chiu said. “It paid off tonight. The effort was there, and we touched a ton of balls on defense, so I’m proud of this team. They don’t give up — they keep working hard to create success.”
Moving forward, Kannan feels optimistic about the rest of the season. He says that the team morale is high, and the players are excited about both CCS Finals and moving on to NorCal.
“I think we’re all locked in and we know we really want to win,” Kannan said. “We’re the number one seed, and we want to prove that we’re the number one seed, so we just came up with the spirit that we want to win and to bring high energy to help us score more points.”
