Varsity Boys Volleyball defeated Mountain View High School 3-0 on Wednesday, April 29. The Matadors held a consistent but narrow lead throughout the three sets, winning each 25-17, 27-25 and 25-23, respectively. Junior and outside hitter Kerem Tuzel was surprised by the Spartans’ performance in the second set, which pushed the Matadors to play harder.
“We played pretty strong,” Tuzel said. “There were times when we kind of lost focus. After the first set, we didn’t expect Mountain View to come back as hard as they did, but I think we were able to handle it and come back. So it was pretty good for us, we stayed focused even though the other team did give us a bit of a challenge.”
While Tuzel specifically highlights the team’s persistence throughout the game, assistant coach Rajas Habbu attributes this win not only to the team’s skills but also their determination.
“Everybody’s got skill and everybody’s good, but there’s only one champion,” Habbu said. “So what makes you different? It’s your attitude, it’s your grit. So hopefully these guys are able to show out like they did today. Today was a really good example of being able to out-rally the other team and being able to show that they want to win more. If they can keep that up, then I think they will be able to go a really long way.”
Tuzel feels that their need to win came from how down they were after their loss against Harker on April 24, which cost the team first place in the SCVAL De Anza League. After finishing second in the league, the Matadors are shifting their focus to preparing for CCS by having more intense practices and trying to win as many games as possible to get the highest seeding, which dictates the placement of teams within the CCS tournament.
“We’ve been doing a lot of positional training,” Tuzel said. “Instead of training as a team, we separate into groups. Everyone focuses on the specific skill that they need to work on to contribute to the team in CCS. We’ve been practicing a lot harder than we have in the first half of the season.”
