Varsity girls volleyball celebrated seniors, smoked rival Mountain View and topped the league all in one night.
In their last home game of the season on Thursday, Oct. 16, the Eagles beat the Spartans 3–1 following a sentimental senior night celebration. The victory set the girls’ record at 8–1 and first place in the De Anza League.
“We were a little nervous, but I felt really confident that our team could pull up and take the dub,” senior captain Ana Heath said. “I was really excited because it was senior night — all the vibes were there.”
The game kicked off with a senior ceremony. Ana and seniors Anastasia Marinopoulos, Ella McFarlane, Aviya Russo and Reiko Wald were honored with speeches and flowers, standing with their families in front of a packed, cheering crowd.
“This is one of the last times we get to play together, especially with teammates we’ve played with since eighth grade,” Ana said. “It’s kind of sad that we’re never going to play again.”
For head coach Peter Kim, this year’s graduating class is full of players who have been integral to the team for many years.
“I’m gonna miss them quite a bit, we’re all gonna miss them,” Kim said. “They’ve been a mainstay of this roster for a while, many of them since they were freshmen.”
After brief hugs and tears, the game commenced. The Eagles opened with the first point of the match, but were met with strong pushback from the Spartans both offensively and defensively, as Ana pointed out the Spartans’ strength in hitting. Despite both teams climbing up the scoreboard, Mountain View took the first set in a close 21–25, playing aggressively across the court.
“We were prepared for them to play tough, but I thought we overcame that pretty well,” Kim said. “We played basically the same way that we did when we played them the first time.”
And overcame it, they did. In the second set, the Eagles spun the score gap in their favor, leading 11–5 when the Spartans called the first timeout of the set. Even after the break, Los Altos stayed on a roll, pulling more than 10 points ahead until they won the set 25–12.
The third set returned to a close fight, with both teams moving up the scoreboard until the Eagles called a set point timeout at 23–24. One point at a time, both teams inched forward, tied and repeated until the Eagles finally pulled a close win, 27–25.
“I wanted the girls to stay calm and collected, and not to underestimate Mountain View,” Ana said. “For the third set, we had issues with serving, but the girls really stepped up and that really showed at the end when we won that set.”
And that was the last of the Spartans. The fourth set was an easy win for Los Altos, putting up 10 points before Mountain View even scored one. At match point, the Spartans fought hard, putting up 2 last points before the Eagles took the set 25–9 and ultimately the game 3–1.
“We did a good job keeping our energy up,” Ella said. “And it was with the help of the student section, everyone was just staying hype.”
As the team’s regular season wraps up, the girls look forward to a postseason, where they hope to compete in the CCS Open Division.
“I think we can definitely win league, and then we can compete with a bunch of top Catholic schools in Open,” Ana said. “It’ll be crazy, but I hope we can win some games.”T
“I’m really excited to possibly be in Open,” Kim said. “I want to see how well we can play against some of the top teams, and I think we can do well.”
