Taking home the win in five sets on their Senior Night last Tuesday, the boys varsity volleyball team (30-6) defeated Poway High School (23-16).
The evening began with a celebration of the team’s seven seniors, who walked down the court with their families and loved ones, celebrating their favorite moments during their careers and the valuable memories made.
To kick off the game, all of the seniors started on the court, igniting high energy from both the sidelines and the stands.
Starting libero Griffin Dieter (10) reflected on the team’s performance.
“Our team has been doing well, coming off a CIF championship win,” Dieter said. “We definitely have a lot of big expectations. I also think that the incoming seniors did well in stepping into the roles that need to be filled.”
During long rallies and aggressive play, the Falcons dropped the first two sets (22-25). However, in the third, the Falcons turned to outside hitter Ben Soudak (12), who led the team with 15 kills, alongside standout hitter Declan Flanagan (11), who recorded 20 kills.
The Falcons took the third set 25-21. Dieter led the defense with 12 digs, fueling quick offensive plays from their outside hitters and middle blockers.
Poway pushed back in the fourth, almost taking the win with a tight 26-28 win. Entering the fifth set, Poway came into the game with a five-game win streak, ready to take down the Falcons. The intense back-and-forth battle tested the endurance of both teams.
“It is my first year starting, so I have had a lot of pressure from that, but I think I handled it well,” Dieter said. “Originally, we had a tradition of starting all of our seniors, but unfortunately, our opponents were very good, so we had to resort to going back to our starters.”
Strong serving from outside hitter Ben Brzenski (12) helped the Falcons maintain momentum going into the final set.
The fifth set came down to just 15 points. The Falcons kept composed and relied on their key hitters and tight defense to propel them towards a 15-13 win.
“Getting the ace on match point, I was not expecting it to happen, and it was a great relief,” Dieter said. “Being down the fifth set and then coming back and finishing off my serve was a great feeling.”
Maxwell Enriquez, varsity assistant coach, walked through the game focusing on the highlights.
“We had a little bit of a rocky start,” Enriquez said. “With all of our seniors playing, some came in injured.”
Maxwell discussed the team’s opponents and how they had to switch strategies fluidly during the game
“Poway is a great team,” Maxwell said. “So we were going into the game ready to fight. We were able to bring it back in the third set and take it home from there. We really tried to take care of them and block their big hitters, but then we shifted to running our pin hitters more as the other team blocked our middles.”
Starting setter Zach Lau (10) reflected on what led the team to success.
“We had a lot of grit and determination to win,” Lau said. “We were able to push through and get the win. Overall, we played well, but we could have focused on covering and defense.”
Looking ahead to CIF playoffs, Lau shared what the team gained from the match.
“We learned that we are not afraid to do what it takes to win a match, and I think that’s really important moving into CIFs,” Lau said.
