Boys’ Volleyball Fights Hard but Falls Short

VICTOR HUANG

Co-Sports Editor

The varsity volleyball team faced off against the defending Almont League champions, the San Gabriel Matadors, on April 16 at their home court. With starters Chucky Wu, Timothy Ly, Kevin Tea, Jay  Encinares and Jonathan Tong, the Moors fought hard, diving after loose balls and running into walls for a pass, against their opponents.

Alhambra began with a sluggish 1-6 start, but outside hitter Chucky Wu brought the score to 3-6 with two straight kills. However, the Matadors eventually pulled the lead to 8-25. Due to minor details, such as faulty serves and miscommunication, the team was not mentally prepared during their first set.

“We had some careless mis-serves and digs that could have been caught, but we were not completely focused,” said Wu. “ Once we get our confidence going, we usually do very well.”

As San Gabriel gained their momentum, Alhambra once again fell into a deep hole in the beginning of the second set with a score of 1-9. Nevertheless, the team persisted and fought back, with a block for a spike and loose balls for a successful pass. Their effort and mentality picked up towards the latter end of the second half, but that was not enough to overcome the 17-23 loss.

“We came into the game not expecting a win,” said sophomore setter Jonathan Tong, “but we became more focused as we progressed into the second half and saw that they were not as bad as we had feared.”

Because the Matadors are defending League champs, the Moors knew from the start that it was going to be a tough game.

“Being intimidated going into the game  was detrimental to our first couple sets,” said Tong.

The Moors also lost to the Mark Keppel Aztecs on April 20. This marks the half way point for boys’ volleyball as they will have another five games to play. These past five games will provide valuable learning experiences for the team when they prepare themselves for their second half of the season.