The Los Altos High School varsity boys volleyball team celebrated their senior night on Friday, May 3. Although they lost the game against Fremont High School 2–3, the match was close, and the team was able to honor their seniors who played their last home game representing the Eagles.
Seniors Kerem Akdogan, Sam Cousins, Aidan Cuppett, Ben Freda-Eskenazi and Jared Rahn were gifted flowers and posters before the game by teammates, parents and coaches. A teammate assigned to each senior also gave a speech in front of the crowd.
“Thank you very much for being here, and for playing volleyball,” Head Coach Peter Kim said in his speech. “And good luck after high school, in college or wherever you go.”
Although the game didn’t go as the Eagles had hoped for the special night, they gave it their all.
“It was definitely a rough loss,” Ben said. “We felt really good coming into the game after a really nice senior night celebration. We’d been seeing the ball really well in practice all week and got off to a great start today but came up short.”
The Eagles won the first set 25–18 and dominated the second set 25–13, with notable kills from Aidan and sophomore Liam Meyer, as well as steady defense from juniors Lukas Cieluiko and Kevin Rubio. At that time, spirits were high and the night looked like an easy sweep.
However, on the third set, the Firebirds ramped up their plays, stealing the momentum and energy from the Eagles. The Eagles lost the third set 20–25 and the fourth followed similarly; the team was unable to side out in problematic situations, forcing them to be stuck in rotations for points at a time.
The Eagles put up a fight — in the fourth set, down 6 points, plays by Aidan helped them gain momentum and climb back up to a score of 16–16 — but it wasn’t enough, and the Eagles lost the set 21–25.
The fifth and final set started with an early lead for the Eagles. As the tie-breaker continued, with aggressive energy from the Firebirds, the Eagles lost their rhythm, ending 11–15
Despite the loss, the Eagles displayed unity and moved forward to focus on the rest of their season.
“It always has ups and downs, but I feel like we are a team that strives for the best,” Kerem said. “So, we’re doing what we can and we don’t give up easily.”
After losing many valuable players this year, the seniors wish the best for the rest of their teammates in their following seasons.
“It’s on the guys to step up and believe in their ability to take over this program once the seniors are gone,” Ben said. “We have a really strong group of guys set to join the team from JV, and the returning members are going to just keep getting better. As long as they stay confident and keep having fun, we don’t really have any concerns.”
The Eagles ended their season with a loss at the CCS quarterfinals against Bellarmine College Preparatory on Tuesday, May 7.
