Varsity Boys Volleyball fell to Leigh High School 2-3 in the final round of the DIII CIF NorCal Championships on Saturday, May 19. The Matadors and Longhorns went neck and neck during the first two sets, trading a 25-17 MVHS win in the first set to a 34-36 LHS win in the second set. While MVHS managed to clinch the third set 25-21, the Longhorns would take and maintain their lead in the final two sets, winning 25-19 and 15-8 in the fourth and fifth sets, respectively
Senior and opposite hitter Henry Hu says the team struggled to regain momentum in the second half of the match. In particular, Hu notes that while the team’s momentum took a hit after losing an incredibly close second set, the team still fought hard to the end.
“Momentum is hard, especially if you’re at an away game,” Hu said. “After that second set, we had to come back and fight. We kept them down, but they gained a little bit of momentum. And unfortunately, they kept that momentum.”
Head Coach Paul Chiu notes that going into the game, he knew that it was going to be a tough match. Despite this, he adds that while the team performed well defensively, the team struggled with a shaky offense going into the second half of the game.
“Our defense was solid throughout,” Chiu said. “But our serve-receive broke down at unfortunate moments. It was very difficult for us to run an offense once all serve-receives broke down.”
Despite the loss, Chiu adds that there is a bittersweet feeling of seeing the season end. Overall, he is proud of the effort the team put in across both the CCS and NCS championships, despite the season ending.
“It’s not great to end your career on a loss at the championship finals,” Chiu said. “But the senior class now has more CCS titles than anybody, plus one trip to the NorCal finals. So they’re as decorated of a group that I’ve had here at MVHS for 15-plus years.”
