On Thursday, May 12, seventh seed Los Altos took on the second seed Monta Vista in the CCS Division I quarterfinals. Despite a valiant effort, the Eagles lost 0-3 in straight sets to end their season.

The first set started out close with both schools tied at 8-8. While the Eagles’ offense was strong, they had some problems with hitting inside the lines. After a series of kills and strategic short-serves, Monta Vista pulled ahead with a lead of over 10 points. Despite calling a timeout in an effort to stop the other team’s scoring streak, the eagles lost the set, and the final score ended up being 25-11.

“We had a good offense but struggled with defense,” sophomore Casey McConnell said. “Especially in the first set, we had a bad rotation which caused us to get stuck for 10 points.”

Things started looking up for the Eagles in the second set. Once again, the score started out fairly close with neither side taking a definitive lead. There were many long rallies in this set due to scrappy playing which allowed both sides to get the ball up even when it appeared as though the point was over. Mid-way through the set, Monta Vista took the lead and then won the set 25-21.

The last set was the Eagles’ strongest one, but they still came up short in the end. This was in large part due to issues with covering blockers and receiving Monta Vista’s hitting. Monta Vista’s strong blocking duo scored them a significant amount of points as well. After both teams got to game-point, Monta Vista’s unforgiving hitting caused the third set to be a close loss for the eagles, with the final score being 26-24.

This is the end of the season for boys volleyball, which made CCS championships in only its fourth year of existence.